Careful Considerations
by Smarmy Puggles
Summary: The development of a considerate relationship within the grounds of Shiz. Gelphie with a very large helping of skinny love. Largely book based.
1. Chapter 1

Elphaba Thropp was a lioness. This was the latest conclusion reached by Galinda, who once again, found herself caught up admiring her friend. A rather heated debate began between the green girl and Avaric. Something about animals probably, she wasn't really paying attention.

This new observation came from the way Elphaba would throw herself with a raging passion into her cause, as eyebrows drew down and a fire lit within her eyes, and hand gestures became larger, a true academic she was. Galinda thought there was nothing better than watching the enigma that was Elphaba thrive with the vitality that only a debate could bring about.

Aside from the increasing volume of the debate, the grounds of Shiz were quiet. Most students had left the campus in search of merriment, however, the Charmed Circle had located their usual spot underneath a large tree, shading themselves from the warming summer sun.

Galinda leant back against the trunk with bare feet outstretched as Boq admired her petite feet. Nessa sat opposite, sturdy in her own unnatural way, her lack of arms doing nothing to hinder the solid way she sat. Crope and Tibbet had grown bored with the debate and had begun to throw the remains of a shredded sandwich at one another, much to the distaste of Nessarose.

From the way Elphaba's shoulders were tensing and the way her finger was wagging in Avaric's face, Galinda could tell that the debate was won. Elphaba was driving her final point home, concluding her argument and such.

Thoroughly cornered and without the moral support of his doting Pfannee and Shenshen, he fell back onto a panicked response which consisted of a rather rude remark concerning the peculiar hue of Elphaba's skin.

"Steady on, lad" shouted Boq from across the blanket, fearing for both himself and Avaric, who admitted his defeat with a grunt and outstretched hand, briefly squeezed by Elphaba.

She took pride of place next to an adoring Galinda against the cool bark of the tree.

"I don't know how you do it" she murmured into Elphaba's ear who looked down, a genuine smile on her face, which turned into a smirk directed at a wounded Avaric.

Galinda quietly laced their fingers together, a shy smile gracing her face as the antics of Crope and Tibbett became louder and more boisterous, and lettuce flew over their heads, occasional pieces landing in Galinda's hair which Elphaba was quick to remove. She really was lovely. The merriment even managed to lift Avaric's mood, further increased by the arrival of Shenshen who he whisked away, one muscular arm thrown over her shoulder.

Later on, Crope and Tibbett's re-enactment of the Ozian Ballet was cut short by the return of Nanny, much to the relief, and slight disappointment of the circle. The girls had promised to behave whilst she gallivanted with the other amas, buying wool and such. She had come to collect Nessa, and maybe Elphaba and Galinda, depending on whether Elphaba was feeling compliant. As per, she was not.

The two remained under the tree with Boq and the flirtatious behaviour of Crope and Tibbett, which soon turned upon one another, and the two scurried away, almost urgently with rushed goodbyes and undisguised looks of love between one another. Then there were three.

"I should quite like to go for a walk" announced the blonde as she wiggled her exposed toes, the level of inactivity causing her lower limbs to lose sensation. At this Boq was already on his feet, one arm proffered for her to take, which she accepted.

He drew in a deep breath as they began to walk through the trees of Shiz, mentally rehearsing a pre-prepared speech for Galinda. Unfortunately, being close to the girl had caused all intelligent thought to flee from his head.

"I've had a lot of fun today, Miss Galinda. You look radiant, by the way, I forgot to mention when I first saw you". He was looking at the floor now, prattling with a scarlet blush creeping along his cheeks. Galinda used this as an excuse to share a secretive smile with Elphaba who was rolling her eyes at his antics.

"Oh do spare us Boq, you're babbling. Perhaps you should try poetry to woo Miss Galinda, since it worked so well last time" she finished with a quick cackle at herself whilst Boq glared and Galinda attempted to hold back her smile. A quick ruffle of his hair told Boq that it was all in good nature and even he had to smile at himself.

The three continued their walk through the grounds as the sun began to decline behind the grassy hills of the distant Gillikin. They stopped for a while, sitting back down watching the sun sink, leaning up on arms outstretched behind themselves.

The Setting of the sun also brought with it the chill of the evening, accompanied by the threat of insects, which Galinda was not prepared to deal with. Being a true gentleman, Boq offered his coat for Galinda and proceeded to walk them home. Naturally, Elphaba couldn't resist a quick poke about Boq's ability to defend two fair maidens in distress. The boy really did have a bit of a hero complex, though, he was still a little bit in love with Galinda, and Elphaba supposed that love was the type of thing to make you into a hero, if anything else.

After ensuring the two reached the doors of Crage hall in one piece, Boq reclaimed his jacket and kissed their hands, lingering slightly on Galinda's, Elphaba noticed, although she had snatched her hand away much too quickly for him to even attempt to kiss it out of politeness. He then continued on his way, a slight skip in his step.

"He is much too much" was Elphaba's first Comment after Boq had disappeared from earshot.

"Oh, but he is a little gentleman, and a little bit sweet" replied Galinda. Little was certainly the operative word here, though Elphie wouldn't comment any further, she simply unlocked their door, holding it open for Galinda to walk through.

She didn't realise Nanny would be on the other side, foot tapping in impatience "Its half an hour past curfew and Nanny was worried sick, imagine if you were hurt, old Nanny wouldn't be able to help you, oh old Nanny's rules are there for a reason young lady. I should tell your father, but nanny has more important things to worry about" with her rant over, she bustled back into Nessa's room, leaving the two girls staring bewilderedly at the door.

It was whilst applying her moisturiser during her nightly routine that Galinda came to a realisation, once again, she was watching Elphaba through the mirror. The green girl was pulling a brush through her hair, grunting in annoyance each time the brush caught on a piece of lettuce that she had failed to notice during the day. She realised how much of her time was spent just observing Elphie, and the strange comparisons that she seemed to make between Elphaba and various animals.

During the day, Elphaba was a force to be reckoned with, a harsh exterior had evolved to protect her from the injustices that she faced, however, when her attention turned onto the blonde (which was rather frequently, she noted with a smile) the exterior seemed to melt away, and a genuine care for Galinda became apparent, along side a fierce protectiveness.

It was the times that Elphaba would hold her gaze, or the faint smile reserved for only her when out and about, or, occasionally, if she felt like it, Elphaba would sit behind her and play with her hair. For Galinda, these were the moments of bliss that she prayed would happen more often than they actually did. Galinda knew for a long time that both girls held an unspoken feeling for each other, yet neither willing to define with words what it was. It was much too strong to be acknowledged at the moment, so it was swept away. An internal secret. Of course, everyone else noticed, it just wasn't discussed, for the sake of embarrassment, and for Boq's poor heart.

Elphaba glanced up from her battle with the brush to notice Galinda's eyes in her direction, the far away glaze suggesting that she was very much deep in thought. As she stood up from the bed, Galinda seemed to snap out of her daze and continue to smooth cream over her face. The taller slowly approached and crouched next to the vanity.

"Have you left me for a more interesting world, darling?" at this Galinda managed a very forced giggle, failing to hide her blush. Elphaba's affectionate pet names often did that to her, reduced her to a giggling mess, and her close proximity was not helping the situation.

"Oh no, I assure you that the sight of you picking leaves from your hair was more than interesting." There, she'd managed to divert the conversation to more light hearted topic, they could always fall back on their playful exchanges when their thoughts ran away with them.

Elphaba frowned at Galinda's sudden change in behaviour, but did not comment, instead choosing to stand up to her full height and give one of those smiles that made Galinda melt.

"Right, well, I'm going to finish some notes now" She threw an arm around Galinda and gave her a slight squeeze. They hugged often, but Galinda sitting down didn't help to reduce the awkwardness of the embrace. It still meant a lot to Galinda who quickly finished her nightly preparations, tilted her head in response, and crawled into bed. She lay on her side watching Elphaba's frantic hand scribble notes into her textbook until sleep could not longer be resisted.


	2. Chapter 2

Galinda was awoken later that week by green arms wheeling in a desperate attempt to balance a large stack of books.

"Morning Elphie" sounding much more jovial than she felt. The unexpected noise from the adjacent bed caused Elphaba to start, sending the entire pile across the floor. The silly thing shouldn't be carrying so many in the first place.

With an exaggerated sigh and a tight lipped "Morning", she began to collect the strewn pile, quickly assisted by the help of small, pale hands. The stress of exams was having a significant impact on all students of Shiz, however, as Galinda recalled correctly, Elphaba seemed to turn beastly when the threat of poor grades was looming ever closer.

That was last year though. She liked to think that since their circumstance had developed into a much more amicable one (well, slightly more than amicable, but discussion of _that_ particular topic would likely cause upset) perhaps Elphie wouldn't be so horrid. She could provide moral support, or something.

Alas, this was not meant to be, the toll of late nights and early mornings were making themselves apparent upon on an already disgruntled green face. Darkened bags were forming beneath those usually alert eyes, which were now darting around the room. A lack of sleep would do that to her - Put her on edge, cause an irritability that would be very frequently and very loudly expressed. For such a stoic creature, Elphie really did have a flair for the dramatic.

Galinda also noted the way Elphaba's hands would not keep still, constantly fiddling with something or other. Currently, the object of those long green fingers' attention was the stack of books upon her desk. She approached the green girl's turned back with caution. They both had an intuitive sense when it came to one another, it was a mutual understanding, a shared way to behave, knowing exactly how to diffuse a negative situation. This time, Galinda took it upon herself to try and reduce Elphie's anxiety.

Elphaba turned slowly at the small hand resting upon her shoulder, head hung low. Galinda assumed she was running through scientific theories in her head. It was in Elphie's nature to do that. Reducing the complex parts of the world around her, linking them and further processing them down into something she could attempt to understand.

She'd attempted this on Galinda before, to no avail. To her, Galinda could not be reduced and explained, nor could the feelings that associated themselves with the blonde. It was odd for Elphaba, so used to understanding the world.

She liked to think she had a small insight into the workings of the human mind and behaviour, not through personal experience though. Something much better than that. She'd acquired the knowledge from books, the only thing with which she had a mutual understanding from her young years.

"Is there anything I might help you with?" Galinda enquired. Elphie's head picked up at that, dark eyes holding blue captive.

"I didn't think the life sciences were your calling."

A small smile. Her first success of the day. Galinda's eyes flicked down to admire the subtle curve of lips, this was her treat. Few could say that they had witnessed a genuine smile from Elphie, and it made her feel special.

Blue eyes continued to move down, frowning for a split second before letting out a quick chuckle. The stress manifesting upon Elphaba's person in the form of an incorrectly buttoned blouse, creating the appearance of a young ragamuffin.

"Oh, Elphie, clumsy, silly thing" the affection in her voice evident. At this Elphaba noticed what was causing Galinda's smile.

"Oh" was the muted reply as small hands began from the bottom, each button being assigned to it's proper hole, one at a time, mind, to preserve Elphie's modesty. She watched the concentration play across the smaller girls face as her blouse was slowly yet properly buttoned. Her books could wait.

It was odd. She couldn't spare a moment of time for anything else, aside from studying, however, for Galinda, she would spend hours. Honestly, she would even consider throwing her book out of the window if asked. Very odd indeed.

As nimble fingers fished their mission, the blonde gave a quick tug at the bottom of Elphie's blouse. Brown eyes locked with blue as small hands fastened behind her neck to adjust the collar. They were thrillingly close. Close enough to feel the surge of adrenaline. The quick beating of hearts. Elphaba's eyes widened as Galinda pinched the points of her collar, drawing her closer.

She'd never been this close to the smaller girl, but it provided the opportunity to admire her dumbly, since all other thoughts had seemed to come to a stuttering halt. Elphaba Thropp was not thinking, only feeling, and her sensory perception had increased tenfold. The room felt thick.

A quick kiss was placed upon a green cheek then the small girl stepped back. No time for _those_ thoughts today then.

"I shall change then fetch us some food. You must be hungry". Within five minutes she was out the door, leaving Elphaba to sit and wonder what on earth had just transpired.

* * *

The return of Galinda also brought with it the promise of food, It was rather sad looking and stale, as could be expected, for she had only visited the canteen. She liked Elphie very much, but that would not excuse leaving the campus for decent food before being properly and thoroughly coiffed.

Either way, both welcomed the necessary distraction. Elphie's hands needed a break from their constant twisting and fiddling. It was a trait that made everyone cringe. Elphaba enjoyed cracking her joints, a self satisfied smirk for each repulsed twitch from the others. Galinda presumed that it was more than likely done to irritate.

"You're stressed." A simple observation from Galinda, which was rather accurate, she would never admit it though. Petulant Elphie would suffer in silence, which was the exact response Galinda received. Typical.

The green girl was absent mindedly cramming food into her mouth whilst reading that huge book upon her lap. A different approach it was then, since she was being ignored, and Elphie probably wouldn't be inclined to take time out for herself.

"We should go somewhere. I'd quite like some time to relax". Elphie always seemed to have time for Galinda, if not herself. A green nose managed to drag itself away from the book.

"And where would you like to go, my lovely?" Truth be told, Galinda hadn't thought this far ahead, she just needed to get out of the strange atmosphere of the room.

"Perhaps we could visit the museum?" This was a clever approach, close enough to campus to keep Elphie happy, yet far away enough to temporarily forget the large amount of revision and neglected books upon her desk. Elphie wouldn't be impressed, so she kept that matter to herself.

Just a few hours of relaxation with Elphie. Just the two of them.

For a few seconds, Elphaba seemed torn between her devotions to academia and those to the blonde perched on her bed. Her mind was made up before she could consider the repercussions.

* * *

The two decided to walk to the museum, it seemed only logical, hailing a cab would be uneconomical, Galinda reasoned. The fact that it meant more time alone had absolutely no sway on her decision, plus Elphie needed some fresh air rather than the dust of old books.

The journey was made in minimal time, Elphie's comical observations and charming manner seeming to speed time up. She even dared to hold Galinda's hand until they neared a crowd of other students, so wiggled away and instead linked their arms. Galinda was not complaining.

She admired the blonde as they neared the museum, her face seeming to light up as hungry eyes raked over the exterior of the building. It was old, that much was obvious from the slight erosion of detail, but still beautifully designed.

A pale hand could not help but reach out to run over the harsh texture of the wall as they walked, something her parents would scold her for now, and more than likely Pfannee and Shenshen. It was not ladylike to be stroking buildings, and it simply wouldn't do.

This was what made Elphie different. Elphie would revel in the sight of Galinda doing the things she would expect to be chided for. She encouraged her. Helped her. But most of all, she would never disapprove of something that brought such joy.

Turning to look at her friend she noticed that intense gaze directed at her. Instead of the usual shift of eye contact, Elphie gave a warm smile and enquired about a pattern on the wall, which Galinda was more than happy to explain. Clearly the blonde was not as empty headed as she would have the Charmed Circle believe.

Once inside the museum the two rejoined hands. Being midweek, there were few visitors, half which were too busy admiring the art to notice the intertwined hands of two students, or like Galinda, too busy admiring someone else.

She watched Elphaba take in the knowledge around her, saw her physically relax as the smell of old books and lemon wax washed over her. They were comforting smells to Elphie. She even had the thrill of witnessing Elphaba light up with passion in the middle of a 'history of Animals and mankind' exhibition. The way her face became animated, and again with those hand gestures. Galinda was falling. Into what? She did not know, nor did she care.

Excitement filled the green girls voice as Galinda added her own thoughts to her impassioned frenzy. She wasn't sure if she'd said the right thing, but from the way arched eyebrows raised, and a rather large grin appeared, it was a valid point. The joyous hug from Elphaba ensured her that it was, indeed, a very, very good point. She would have to make more.

"You are thinking!"

"I'll have you know, I think quite often, thank you very much" was the sniffed response, she dared not say what the topic of her thoughts were for the majority of said thinking time. She was failing miserably to keep up the act of mild offence, Elphaba's praise had set off those butterflies in her stomach again, causing her to beam delightedly.

The majority of the afternoon was spent by Elphaba prodding Galinda into thought. Well, not so much prodding, but guiding. She would make a point upon which Galinda would elaborate. It was a clever process, almost tricking her into thinking. The blonde was more considerate with Elphie, the world seemed more interesting somehow.

Each breakthrough was rewarded with a smile, or an affectionate phrase, prompting the blonde's heart to flutter about. With a new-found confidence, she had begun to express her own observations, one of which directly contradicted that of the green girl. It triggered a mild debate, which Galinda was quick to change.

Elphaba was notorious for her debating ability, best not to enter one if you wanted some dignity, though Elphie would never publicly embarrass her, of that much she was certain. Nevertheless, She was proud of Galinda's thinking. Another smile. Another feather in her cap.

It was a unanimous decision that tea was required after such a thought provoking day, Galinda took her place whilst Elphie called for the drinks. She also considered treating herself to a sweet. It was a treat she decided, to help her get through exams. It had absolutely nothing to do with the copious amounts of sugar, which Pfannee and Shenshen had condemned; apparently even a small amount was terribly bad for you. High society fads and all that - promptly shot down by Elphaba.

"The Ironic process of mental control" she mused.

"I beg your pardon?" came the very much confused reply.

"Denying yourself those pastries will only intensify your cravings. You don't have to pretend you don't want them. Not in front of me, anyway" That was true, she was rather hungry, and those pastries did look quite decadent.

She did not mind breaking the imposed rules of her friends and such in front of Elphie. The terror probably only wanted her to buy them so she could pinch one, which would result in a playful and exuberantly charming Elphaba, for at least as long as there was food present. It was worth it for that reason alone.

Noticing the way the ceiling was masoned caused a flurry of excitement within Galinda which did not go unnoticed by careful brown eyes.

"You should do that more often" supplied the green girl.

"I'm certain I don't know what you're talking about" came the rather haughty response, attempting to regain composure before realising that it was not necessary. "Besides, were you not taught that it's rude to stare?" she replied with a grin.

"Well, I wouldn't have to stare if you weren't so enthralling when you're impassioned." Honestly, she liked daily Galinda, the occasionally wistful girl, adored by all. On the other hand, she liked very much the fervid excitement that Galinda spoke with when alone.

Galinda felt her ears turn red at this. It was most unkind of Elphaba to cause her to turn such an unflattering shade of rouge so frequently, but she thrived on those comments. A heartfelt gaze was shared between the two until Elphaba broke it, investigating what had caused such ardent admiration from the petite girl opposite.

"Why do you rarely speak of architecture with the others?" It was a simple question based on light hearted curiosity, yet one that Galinda thought about frequently. It was so easy to speak about these things with Elphie. She encouraged passion, because to Galinda, Elphaba Thropp was the definition of passion. Half hearted was not a phrase that Elphaba knew, she spoke about nothing in a lacklustre manner. Nothing she truly believed in, and Galinda was the thing she believed in most.

At home, she was raised to be the perfect young lady - well bred, quiet, and compliant to the bidding of her husband, who she would marry after embarking from Shiz. She was raised in a very traditional household, and told by doting parents that she had no need to go to university, her life was set out and easy. Easy was not what Galinda wanted or needed. Galinda wanted to prove herself, to whom? She wasn't entirely sure back then, but now... Well, she had a good idea.

She was frequently sanctioned throughout adolescence for showing too much zeal, especially since architecture was a largely male dominated profession. This managed to prevent her outbursts before too much embarrassment was caused. Peer pressure from the other Gillikin girls managed to stamp out any remaining sparks of passion. It was allowed to exist, but not to be shown, a perfect charade for a perfect young lady. Yet here she was, the girl she adored sitting opposite her, who was equally as devoted in response.

"It's what's expected of me" she shrugged into her cup. A thoughtful few moments of silence ensued, before Galinda felt the gentle pressure of a verdant hand upon her own.

"I shall be frank with you, my dear. There is nothing you could not achieve if you set you mind to it, of that much I am certain. You have brains and beauty aplenty which will be more than enough to get you by, and I suspect that, if you remain driven, you could go on to do truly amazing things. You must remember though, never to let your passion go to waste. To me, you are much more than a simpering housewife, you are so much more, and you must never, ever forget that."

For quite possibly the first time in her life, Galinda Arduenna was speechless.

Elphaba drained her cup and waited for Galinda to finish sipping her tea, holding out a hand which the smaller girl wasted no time in taking, slipping their fingers together, and moving closer. The journey back to campus was spent fairly quietly. It was a peaceful silence, both lost in their own thoughts and their bliss of the moment.

It seemed that Galinda's plan had the desired effect of calming Elphie. Partly.

Elphaba Thropp was not the type to take exams lightly, a day of distraction was just that. Time spent away from her studies would more than likely reflect negatively upon her final grade. Curiously, that didn't seem to matter too much, the consequences not so severe when she had such a perfect, delightful creature looped to her arm.

Galinda had also begun to turn her attention towards sorcery – begrudgingly, that was. She had improved a great deal this past year, though whether that was due to the increased studying, or the watchful eye of Elphaba, she was not certain.

She was, however, certain that it was not due to the efforts of Miss Greyling, she tried, bless her, but sorcery seemed to evade her. Clearly it was not a natural talent, or a practised one. Still, Elphaba was happy to note that Galinda had perfected her levitation spell, so her sandwiches were safe from harms way.

It wasn't a subject that she wanted to take, bullied into it by Morrible, but frankly, she had little say on the matter and did not wish to dwell on the oversized carp. She was in far too much of a good mood.

She was told by supportive parents that it did not matter if she failed, they would still have a home for her. She could get married and have babies, become an adoring mother and wife. The expected life. The life that she expected to be horrifically boring. She supposed they meant well.

This was incentive enough for her to spend hours with a great book balanced on her knees. The presence of Elphie was just a bonus. She had also realised that the verdant girl was _very_ attentive when she discussed work, sliding to sit closer, explain points. Galinda told herself there was no ulterior motive when she shuffled closer. Galinda was a liar.

The blonde knew that her degree wouldn't be useful to her, and she told Elphaba as such, who was quick to point out that she could achieve anything she wanted as long as she held onto her passion. And she would.

When the door was safely shut behind them, Galinda turned and planted a gentle kiss upon a verdant cheek.

"Thank you for everything. Thank you so much" to which, Elphaba gathered her into a hug, a rather stupid smile worming its way onto her face. Perhaps a day away from the hum drum of daily life wasn't all that bad. Basking in the presence of one of the most important people of her life had opened her mind to so much, and made her feel invincible.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello lovelies! An early update for you this week, as I am going on holiday. I'd just like to say thank you for spending some time out of your explorations of fanfic to read this. Also, a big thank you very much to those who have reviewed this story, I do very much enjoy reading your reviews, and would love to hear your thoughts, so if you fancy it, feel free to leave one, constructive criticism is very much appreciated! I have made some adjustments to chapter one, just punctuation really, the story hasn't changed at all. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this next chapter, hopefully we have plenty more to go! Ooh, also, Elphie's little poem is taken directly from the wicked book, so Mr Maguire may take full responsibility for that! **

* * *

It was initially decided that Elphaba Thropp was a lioness. However, After watching the frantic flapping and pacing of the green girl, Galinda had revoked her previous thoughts, and decided that she resembled more of a hive of bees. A very busy, very angry and somewhat disorganised hive of bees.

The ever approaching exams had finally arrived and caused a lot of upset. She knew the green girl was more than prepared, and attempted to soothe the vile mood Elphie had entered. Apparently this was not working, which was further demonstrated by the cold shoulder she received as the green girl continued to paw through books and scribble notes. It was getting ridiculous really.

Elphie's frosty mood had seemed to affect the entire charmed circle, she was good at that, deflecting the attention of others, goodness knows she did it enough in their first half a year of cohabitation. It must have been the way she snapped at everyone and blatantly refused any invitations to outings. From experience, she knew this was the best, tried and tested way of avoiding social obligations.

Galinda had tried several times now to drag the hermit away from her room, but only succeeded in getting as far as the library before Elphie seemed to vanish in a puff of smoke. She frequently found herself questioning how Elphie blended in quite so easily. The girl had green skin, surely she should be easy to spot in a crowd.

It seemed even Pfannee and Shenshen had begun to revise, the threat of failure wasn't too horrific for them. What was really terrifying was the chance of being forcibly removed from the university, risking Avaric's wondering attentions. They needed to stay, for that reason alone.

Boq's studious nature meant that he too was often absent from the circle. According to the majority of missing members, the charmed circle was discontinued until further notice, which left Galinda and Elphie a lot of free time with which to revise.

Elphie had three days. Three days and her exams would be over. Galinda was practically counting down, of course she had her own exam to worry about, however, she was fairly confident with it. She'd certainly put the time and effort in.

The steely silence of the room caused her to begin conjuring her own spells, Elphie's turned back hardly provided much entertainment as she continued to angrily push papers around her desk. There really wasn't enough room for the amount of paperwork she'd attempted to squeeze onto the workspace. Good luck to anyone who tried to tell the irate girl that.

Galinda approached the desk, holding some of the papers for the tense green girl, who looked up and gave her a smile, well, it was more of a grimace, but Galinda pretended it was a smile. It made her seem less wild if she imagined it as a smile. She could also pretend that she didn't see the bloodshot eyes and bags that seemed to have become permanently etched upon Elphie's face.

The blonde was a socialite. She relied on frequent conversation and stimulation to keep her happy. This was not something she was getting at the moment. Elphie's study induced rage ensured that talking was kept to a minimum, save for the grunted greetings and meagre conversations before bed. Silence was best of course, it provided optimum conditions for knowledge and absorption of facts.

She would wait until this evening to attempt a decent conversation. All this studying could not be healthy for Elphie, she needed time to refresh her mind, exercise it outside the realm of biological theories. The girl really adored the mechanics of life. She and that silly old goat would probably go on to change the world. An equal world free from prejudice. The very mention of it would cause such a warmth for Galinda. Elphie deserved to be happy, as did the animals.

Honestly, she knew little about how severe conditions had become for animals - or Animals, until she had the pleasure of becoming Elphie's room mate. Back In the Pertha hills, It wasn't polite to discuss politics in passing conversation, so the upper-class rarely discussed injustices for the lower classes.

It didn't affect them, so why should it matter. This was a mindset that had been forced upon her from childhood, however, Elphaba was opening her mind to more prospects, and internalised ignorances were being slowly, but surely lifted.

She removed herself from the close presence of Elphie to sit on her bed with a huff, which did not go unnoticed by a seemingly deep in thought Elphaba.

"Five more minutes, then you may have my full undivided attention".

Good. It was about time she took a break, it had been over four hours since Elphie last managed to pull herself away from her studies, how terribly interesting they were. Galinda had to respect the girl's level of dedication to her studies, it seemed that little would influence her when she became transfixed.

Unfortunately for the blonde, five more minutes did not come for another hour. Allegedly, time had run away with her, she didn't realise how quickly it had passed. An accusatory glare was shot her way before a smile, just to clarify that it was all in jest. Galinda stood and wrapped her arms around a green neck.

"I do believe I was promised some full, undivided attention" she grinned. Naturally, Elphaba obliged. She'd been caught up in Galinda's thrall again, what harm would a few moments of rest cause? It was a pitiful excuse, but Elphaba found herself being pulled away from her desk by small hands. Such resistance she showed too.

Elphaba was a walking encyclopedia, the girl could pull forth heaps of information for almost any question asked, presenting her answer in an efficient and well written manner, using points to back herself up. Galinda supposed it was natural for such an academic person to have such eloquent poise when answering questions.

She was also helped by the amount of debates/ arguments she frequently had with Avaric, even if they did often end in a slurred expletive. Avaric really was a sore loser, especially when bested by a girl. A green girl. Galinda knew she had remembered everything she needed for her exam, yet the girl would not allow herself any time out, but for Galinda, well, it was a different story. It always was.

They both perched upon the smaller girls bed, for no other reason than the fact that Galinda had dragged them both here and could ensure that Elphaba would not be escaping any time soon. It was becoming more and more common for Elphaba to find herself sat down here. Being so close to the smaller girl immediately removed any thoughts of studying from her head, at least temporarily. That stupid hold Galinda seemed to have over her.

"I do worry about you, you know" the smaller uttered.

"Ah, how so? You needn't worry about me. I'll keep plodding on, however, if a certain little sweetheart didn't keep dragging me away, I'd certainly have everything finished by now" that last part was delivered with a raised eyebrow and a grin. The thing was getting much too cheeky for her own good. Best to sort that out before it became a problem.

"Oh really, Miss Elphie. She who cannot spare a second of time for anything other than books. I have seen the way your pen stops scratching at the most inappropriate of times, although, I suppose you cant help your... Wondering attentions every now and then". A wink. That silenced any reply. It had actually had the opposite of the desired affect. Dark eyes widened for a split second, before she became rather quiet.

She had seen the way Elphie would momentarily stop writing when she would have perfected her make up for the day. What she noticed even more so was how Elphie could not help but stare when she emerged from the bathroom each evening, not a trace of make up on her skin.

At first it made her feel rather self concious, but she had grown to rather like the way Elphie would look at her. At first there were the shy glances, which quickly developed into blatant, unashamed stares, which Galinda would pretend to have not noticed. For this reason she assumed Elphie would enjoy some playful jesting. She wouldn't consider it flirting, it wasn't an appropriate word for the moment, maybe later, but not yet.

This seemed to give the green girl enough time to compose herself, that small smirk developing on her face. Galinda knew that a blush was imminent, it was almost impossible when that naughty smile appeared.

"Aah, well, I do not deny that you overwhelm me with your beauty, you are the moon in the season of shadowlight". She inhaled to continue with her sweet, poetic nothings as Galinda's head began to reel from the heartfelt words.

Ah, how quickly her blush had appeared, and how quickly realisation had dawned, leading her to harshly swat at Elphaba a few seconds later.

"Elphaba Thropp, you absolute beast! Such words you utter!" she was smiling though. "Stop, stop right now, it was embarrassing enough the first time"

This earned a snort. "Yes, but I had rehearsed it so beautifully, at least allow me to finish". She was cackling now.

Galinda was bombarded with the recurrence of _that_ particular memory, the one that she had safely boxed up and stored in the back of her head. That first, highly improper meeting with Boq. At the time she was mortified by the advances of the little hedgehog boy, but they had all found time to laugh about it now. Still, there was no need for it to be brought up again.

She should have expected it, it had almost become a long running joke in the circle now. Frankly, it was nice seeing Elphie smile, rather than the tired scowl that had taken up permanent residence on her face since exams started. She found herself doing that a lot around Galinda – smiling. It must be her infectious personality.

"You horrid thing" which seemed to stop the giggling, but not the huge grin. She was wrapped in a hug seconds later. She was happy with the frequency of these now. Elphie seemed to hug her so much more often, or even just gentle touches here and there. It was wonderful, and she could not help the contented sigh that escaped her lips as the hug continued on for what may have been slightly longer than necessary.

Elphaba seemed to realise this, and pulled away rather quickly.

"Oh, yes... Studying. Best get back to it. Exams and all that, fast approaching." she finished with a nervous and rather harsh laugh.

"Excuse you. That was barely three minutes, and I shall not be pleased if you abandon me for those books again"

"Of course" came the quiet reply as she sat back down onto the bed. Galinda could not help but notice the way dark eyes continually flicked between herself and the papers on her desk. She reached out and covered a green hand with her own. Elphaba was quick to lace their fingers together.

"It'd be nice for you to have some time out for yourself, I know you wont, and I know you're tired"

She shuffled back at this, Galinda following close behind. They were sitting against the headboard of the bed. It seemed to be their place when they relaxed together. Granted, the headboard wasn't exactly comfortable to lean against, which was a perfect excuse for Galinda to have to move and lay her head in Elphie's lap. She didn't seem to mind, quite the opposite actually, they would sit this way for hours at a time, discussing absolutely anything, from the mundane to the extraordinary.

As Elphie's hands found their way to her hair, that beautiful soft hair, both seemed to relax immediately. Looking up, The blonde noticed Elphie's constant flicking between the books on her desk and herself had stopped, she was met with a soft gaze, books once again completely forgotten.

The two sat in silence for a while, enjoying the company of one another. Galinda was about to protest when the gentle strokes to her hair ceased, however, all comments died on her lips as she noticed those dark eyes had closed, soft puffs of air issuing forth every few seconds.

It was rare for Elphie to fall asleep during the day. Naps were a very un-Elphaba thing to do, but she supposed that Elphie was not one to be predictable. The thing was extremely tired, she needed to sleep. She tried to reposition the lanky thing, who had seemed to turn into lead when asleep.

The first movement caused her to snap awake and a stream of incoherent words to spill from her mouth, which Galinda was quick to hush with some motherly words. How odd it was to be taking care of Elphie in such a way. Elphie who was so headstrong and independent. She was certain that if it were not for the extreme tiredness, she would be batted away as the prickly thing crawled over to her own bed. Elphie did not appreciate being awoken.

She managed to manoeuvre her into a lying position and gasped as a green arm snaked around her midsection, pulling her closer. Her heart was truly thundering quickly now, and she was almost certain that Elphie could hear each thud.

She swallowed thickly and made herself comfortable with this creature wrapped around her. It was an odd sensation, but being pulled ever closer to the warm body behind her, she could not help but melt into the embrace. It was almost definite that she would not fall asleep, not with those arms that she so craved around her.

Elphaba did not recall falling asleep, and she certainly did not recall wrapping this delightful thing in her arms. It was expected for her thoughts to be so slow when first waking. It took a few seconds for her to realise that she should not be holding Galinda in such a way. When she became conscious of such a fact, she propelled herself backwards, straight off the edge of the bed, taking with her a lamp from the bedside table.

Looking up with widened eyes she saw a very amused face looking down at her. It was not a calculated and graceful move, but she believed the gravity of the situation was explanation enough for such dramatic reactions. With minimal blushing, she accepted the offered hand and was pulled back up onto her feet before sitting on the bed in front of a smiling Galinda. Seeing Elphie act in such an uncharacteristic, clumsy manner was both humerus and endearing.

"What time is it?" were the first words to fall from her mouth. Galinda was not impressed, the smile on her face faltering. They had clearly just shared a moment, which she was more than happy to discuss, or elongate, either really. Yet here was Elphie, in all of her typical Elphie-ness, ignoring the situation.

A quick check of the clock informed her that they had only been asleep for an hour, yet it seemed to have reduced the bags on Elphie's face, slightly. From the window it was clear that late afternoon was fast approaching.

Those who had already completed their exams were lazing out on the grass, waiting for coaches from rich parents to collect them and whisk them away to another grand holiday. Elphie briefly wondered where Galinda's travels would take her this year, somewhere far probably. She attempted not to notice the slight twist of her heart at this, she was not prone to such feelings, and it was best to push them down. Not acknowledging this predicament seemed the best course of action for Elphie.

Galinda once again followed her to the window and wrapped herself around Elphie's arm which was hanging rather limply at her side. This caused her to look down and share a smile with Galinda who seemed to be having a bit of an internal debate with herself.

"What's wrong?" An affectionate tap to the smaller girls nose caused the frown to even out as she looked up, removing her her arms to sit on her bed. She had a good idea what was causing the other girls discomfort; presumably, it was the same thing that was upsetting her too. She wasn't going to mention it though.

"It's nothing" the blonde quietly responded. She knew very much what the problem was, and it was standing at the window of their room, a very concerned look on its face. She didn't think it appropriate to discuss this so close to their exams, goodness knows it would throw off the equilibrium they were both so desperately trying to maintain.

There was also the issue of Elphie's composure, she was fairly confident it would cause an almighty panic. She wasn't prepared to jeopardise the taller girl's success so close to exams.

During her thinking time the green girl had walked over to her bed and sat next to her, once again taking a hand into her own. She liked it when Elphie did that, her thumb would begin to stroke the back of pale knuckles, it was terribly relaxing.

"Just exam stress is all. Not much longer to go now though". Elphie's brow furrowed at this, both knowing that so many things were going unsaid. The elephant in the room was growing bigger by the day. Each touch, every affectionate glance fuelling the confessions waiting to burst forth.

She slid her hand away from Elphie to go and fetch some text books, she needed something to divert her attentions. She was sure that if they became wholly focused on the green girl, if those intense looks and hand stroking continued for much longer, she could not be held responsible for her actions. Best to move away before she did something she knew she couldn't regret.

Both returned to their respective positions to continue pawing through books. The room held an odd atmosphere, full of things left unsaid, but it was easier this way. Maybe they would confront it when the stress of exams had crawled away for another year. Maybe.

* * *

The next day followed in much the same pattern. The penultimate day for Galinda, soon she would be free from exams and able to gallivant once again. She missed the feeling of being carefree. Even when she took breaks from studying there was still the constant niggle of abandoned textbooks beckoning her back.

The sunny weather provided the excuse for Galinda to cart Elphie outside to sit under a tree with their revision. The occasional fresh breeze was more than welcome, it helped blow the cobwebs away. Unsurprisingly, _those_ feelings couldn't be blown away, not when they were sitting so close to one another, and Elphie would lean across her to help where she could. Though, she was trying her hardest to ignore them today.

She had one last day to review her information, most of which was ingrained in her head. She supposed she was thankful for all the times the green girl had encouraged her to sit and revise, despite it being months before exams began. At the time, she could think of many things she would rather do. Most of those thoughts involved a delightful green girl, and no distractions. Best not to dwell on those thoughts right now, she was at risk of coming over all unnecessary.

Pretending the growing feelings for the taller girl were not real was one of her favourite past times. She'd changed since then. Still rather uncertain about these feelings, but much more willing to accept them for what they were.

They were joined for a while by Boq. Now was a good time to approach, he assumed, since they were both lost in books, rather than each other, so he wouldn't feel so intrusive. He was fairly confident that he was over Galinda now. Though he was still rather in denial about what was staring him right in the face. He chose to ignore the way the girls were sat so close, and plopped down opposite the two leaning against a tree.

"Mind if I join, ladies?" Elphaba snorted at this, whilst Galinda provided her most hospitable smile, considering he had already sat and pulled out a book. She couldn't help the slight disappointment of alone time being reduced, but Boq was nice enough, and a good distraction from the girl sitting next to her, who seemed to have moved closer. Honestly, It was getting more and more difficult to focus on her work.

Few words were exchanged, all choosing to devote time and attention to their notes. It was one of those days for Galinda, the feeling of wanting the exam to be far away as to allow more time to revise, but at the same time, she wished that it was over and done with. It had been dragged out for much too long now, and there wasn't much else she could learn.

* * *

On the morning of Galinda's exam, she was awoken by a rather twitchy Elphaba. This seemed to be happening a lot this week. She didn't have much time to air her annoyance at being woken so early, as the sight on her bedside table was rather nice, and rather thoughtful of Elphie. She had fetched her some tea and breakfast from the canteen, which she couldn't help but smile at.

"Oh, you're awake, I was wondering when you'd get up" making absolutely no reference to the breakfast she had brought up before sitting on her bed with a large pile of notes. Galinda couldn't help the silly smile on her face for a few seconds, which was replaced by a slightly nervous frown. After finishing her breakfast, and her strenuous morning routine, she immediately took the offered arm to escort her to her exam.

Elphie proved to be a wonderful pep-talker. She supposed that would be an important part of being such a passionate person - the ability to inspire others. At times like this she was grateful for Elphie's incapability to keep her mouth shut when she had launched into one of her impassioned speeches.

When they had arrived at the exam hall, she thanked Elphie with a kiss on the cheek, after of course checking that the area was clear. Pfannee and Shenshen still held a slight grudge against Elphaba, and how they liked to gossip, well, it could prove to be quite a spectacular rumour if they were caught. She then disappeared through the doors, leaving Elphie to wonder back to their room, her own stupid smile on her face.

Elphaba's final exam was tomorrow, and it could not come soon enough. She felt prepared. She also felt ready to devote her attentions to something other than the same books she'd been reading over and over. Of course, she would continue to work as Dr Dillamond's assistant, but there was something, or rather, someone else in her life who she wished to lavish her attention upon.

Time passed fairly quickly with her nose buried in a book. Soon enough she was waiting outside the exam hall for Galinda to emerge. And she did, announcing her presence as first out of the hall with very large hug, throwing herself at Elphie, relief at having finished her final exam evident on her face. It seemed that she was pleased with what the exam contained, most of which went straight over Elphie's head. She had a good idea about sorcery, though the exact mechanics were not something she was very knowledgeable about.

The morning of Elphie's exam provided slightly less stress, contrary to her recent mood, she seemed fairly calm and collected, proposing that she and Galinda go for breakfast before her exam began. Their morning routine was finished with Galinda buttoning Elphie's blouse. It had become a habit almost, and a fantastic way to start the day, Elphie noted. Similarly to the first time they had done this, Galinda pulled her down and placed a kiss on her cheek.

"For good luck" she whispered. It seemed a valid enough excuse, Elphie didn't need luck, but it did the job, and caused quite a lovely smile to adorn a green face. It was then decided to head down to the canteen together.

Before much longer, their roles had been reversed, and it was Elphie emerging from the exam hall, yet Galinda who threw herself upon the green girl, who quickly caught her up into a hug. Continuing with the reversal of roles, it was Elphie who bent down and planted a kiss upon a pale cheek. This prompted a very large giggle from Galinda, who felt rather giddy. The two removed themselves from the growing crowd outside the exam hall to sit beneath the Charmed Circle's tree.

"And we are free" came the very much contented sigh from Galinda.

"Indeed we are, I have been looking forwards to this. Relaxing with you, that is" Which triggered those butterflies and a look of longing shared between the two, Galinda used this as an excuse to bury her face into the crook of the green girl's neck as they shared a hug. It was one of those meaningful hugs, and both could not ignore the feelings behind it.

"Now, I do believe I should like to take you out" the green girl stated after the had pulled apart.

"And where do you plan on taking me?"

"Ah, well, that would be telling. You shall just have to wait and see shan't you." Leaning in closer before whispering "Oh, and its my treat."

Galinda did not feel inclined to say no.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello again! I have returned from my travels, slightly sunburnt, but very much ready to continue writing these two lovely ladies. Thanks again to the reviewers! Feel free to keep them coming! I get terribly excited when people tell me what they think. Again, constructive criticism is wonderful!**

* * *

It was agreed that Elphie would whisk Galinda away that very night. The two could not resist some much needed relaxation time, and frankly, the prospect of being alone together in whatever setting Elphie chose to take them to was more than tempting.

She was being rather covert about the whole situation, which Galinda was becoming twitchy about. She quite liked surprises, but the desire to know where they were going was causing an increasing impatience to develop. The only information she was given was to "Wear what makes you happy". How terrifically helpful of Elphaba.

The green girl had just disappeared out of the door, probably going to secure reservations or just to sort out whatever she had planned. The whole circumstance was causing that stupid smile to become plastered to her face, not that she minded. It was rather like when they first met, this level of secrecy and mystery that seemed to find itself permanently stuck to Elphaba. Save for the angry slurs and passive aggression that they both seemed so fond of. This way was much, much better.

She lasted for a grand total of fifteen minutes before her impatience became much too strong to resist, and she began to apply a small layer of makeup. Elphie liked the natural look. Oh how she had changed these past two years, all for the better though, she was a rather horrible person back then, doing anything to fit in with the fashion trends of the time.

She took her time with her makeup; it was a necessity to look one's best for their significant other. The clatter of her makeup brush did not startle her from her thoughts, and a sculpted brow drew further down.

Ah. Perhaps that last thought was something she was unprepared to deal with. She did believe that it had a nice ring to it, but it caused such an odd feeling. They couldn't be defined as anything more than friends, well, in words. Of course, there was much left unsaid, a huge question mark over their relation to one another. It was most definitely something more than friendship, yet, it was not quite a relationship.

A few more seconds of confused staring at her reflection gave her the opportunity to push those thoughts away and continue to swipe the brush over her face. Whilst taking a break from her applications, Elphie re-entered the room, looking rather pleased with herself, she noted.

She smiled through her reflection in the mirror at Elphie, who gave her own grin in response.

"Do you think you will be ready in two hours, my lovely?"

"Perhaps, but then again, I might keep you waiting. I'd rather you didn't think I was too eager" The blonde finished with a wink.

Elphie raised her eyebrows at this, clearly someone was feeling flirtatious tonight, she was becoming rather fond of this - a flirtatious Galinda. It was something unusual yet so very delightful. She then clapped her hands with a brief "Right" then set about preparing for the evening.

Neither could seem to help the way they kept catching each other's eye in the mirrors reflection, which would lead to prolonged eye contact, seeming to say many things, yet nothing at all. Each long glance would lead to a fluttering, and a twisting of the stomach. Not that it was unpleasant, just different.

The pair were ready within an hour and a half, Galinda opting for a really quite lovely dress, Elphie noted. One that seemed to make Elphie very attentive. When she emerged from the bathroom for her grand unveiling of said dress, Elphie could not help but become rather quiet for a few moments. Galinda did not know how to interpret this reaction, and so attempted a rather speedy escape back into the bathroom. This was cut short by the fact that Elphie had cleared the room in two steps and caught her hands, spinning her around to look into her eyes. Once again, they found themselves thrillingly close.

"You look very, _very_ nice" Elphaba breathed. It certainly wasn't a lie. Perhaps she wanted to say more, but she reckoned that if she did, she wouldn't be able to stop. In her opinion, it was a necessary compromise. Nevertheless, it was a good compromise, which earned her a kiss on the jaw. The kiss caused a puff of Galinda's perfume to invade Elphie's senses and further addle her brain.

Galinda pulled away then, and continued getting ready. Elphie did not realise that she was still standing in the middle of the room looking rather simple, until Galinda gave her a quick nudge. She had shoes on, which meant that Elphaba had been standing there for slightly longer than what may be considered appropriate. Galinda didn't seem to mind too much, she rather liked it when she had this effect on Elphie.

The two left arm in arm, Elphie chosing to wear a nicer outfit than usual. Granted, it was still a basic dress, and a little bit more patterned than she would have liked, but Galinda had picked it out, and she wasn't prepared to say no. Elphie had then announced that they would be eating in a new restaurant she had found, it was quiet and intimate. A perfect setting, she believed.

The coach ride was made with minimal fuss, both sitting quite close to one another, admiring both the passing scenery, and each other. Elphie would say things that would spark laughter from the small girl, just for the novelty of hearing it, not the false giggle that she used to use.

Galinda correctly observed that they were in a lovely area, passing beautiful houses and rich scenery, before slowing to a halt on a quiet street. The majority of diners would probably start to appear a bit later. Perfect timing.

Offering a strong arm, Elphie helped Galinda down from the coach, then intertwining their fingers, the pair made their way into the restaurant. It was different to what Galinda had become accustomed to, but she supposed that many things were recently, especially since Elphie. She took in the atmosphere as they entered, it was quiet, and low lighting seemed to set a certain mood to the room.

A booth in the back would be where they spent their evening, sitting opposite one another. A low gas lamp illuminated the scene, which was making Elphie's already defined face seem divine. The lighting was also having a similar effect on Galinda for Elphie, her hair radiating the light. Both just took a while to admire one another as menus were handed out.

Both were sure that the restaurant was lovely, however, they didn't seem capable of concentrating on their surroundings for too long. After all, there was something much more delightful just a hands reach away.

Low level chatter began to fill the room as more people were lead in. Despite the filling room, an intimacy was still maintained, it seemed that it was just the two of them in their own little pocket. Food was handed out and enjoyed by both. A traditional Gillikinese medley, which reminded Galinda of home. It was also a perfect excuse to lean over and deposit a spoonful of food into Elphies mouth, who happily accepted it. If questioned, she could base her excuse around the fact that it is traditional for food to be shared in her home culture. She hoped Elphie wouldn't realise it was an absolute lie.

It seemed that a small game had begun, with both sharing their food from each others spoons. Elphie would offer her a taste of something on her plate, but pull her spoon away seconds before Galinda bit down, the green girl found it rather comical. Elphie then began to spear bits of food off the blonde's plate, despite having the exact same things on her own, which resulted in more elaborate attempts at food smuggling.

She could not tell you when the blonde ended up on the same half of the booth as herself. It was a bit of a squeeze, but they didn't seem to mind. They were sharing food off the same plate now, the meal drawing to a close, and a rather large mess upon the table.

Plates were cleared away by a rather unimpressed waitress, and Elphie ordered the two another glass of wine. Shortly after it had arrived, she gave Galinda a rather cheeky grin, and pretended to yawn with exaggerated vigour, one arm coming to rest around Galinda's shoulders. Apparently, the wine was making Elphie rather confident, until the blonde could no longer hold back a snorting laugh.

"I do believe you just attempted the most awful move in the history of suaveness, Miss Elphie". She was still laughing, bending in on herself now, which also, caused her to lean in closer to Elphie. Those ulterior motives again. Elphie had not yet removed her arm, though that move was absolutely unplanned. She snorted at herself for that blatant lie.

"You don't seem to be complaining too much". The green girl responded. Of course she didn't, if anything, she wanted more, and so snuggled into Elphaba's shoulder. The two sat like this for a while, nursing glasses of wine, Elphie drawing small circles with her thumb on Galinda's hand.

"Are you ready to go?" the green girl asked the blonde a while later. She was rather tired and nodding off, still tucked up to Elphie. Ever the actress. Presumably, feigning sleep would allow her to move even closer to Elphie.

A muted hmm was the reply, so Elphie took initiative, and began to try and move the blonde

"Oh do stop, you silly thing, I know what you are doing and shan't be carrying you out of this restaurant" She stated, rather affectionately. Clearly Galinda's plan had not been as sneaky as she had first thought, so with a harumph, she lifted herself up, and took Elphie's hand.

After leaving the restaurant, the fresh breeze seemed to wake Galinda up, and she moved in closer to Elphaba. The street was dark now, the perfect cover for them. A single street lamp a short distance away was providing just enough light. They were like spectres in the night. No one would notice if she just raised up slightly onto her toes. Placed a kiss upon green lips. She was holding onto Elphie now, just mere inches away from her lips. That feeling reappeared again, two hearts absolutely thrumming.

Elphie flicked her tongue across her lips. Clearly she had the same thoughts as Galinda, and began to lean in closer, a hairs breadth separated them now. She could feel the magnetic pull of Galinda's lips. A necessity they were. Small hands grasped the collar of her dress and puller her closer.

"Elphie?" She heard. The atmosphere felt comparable to being encased in a bubble, the time around her slightly delayed, though whether this was caused by the blonde or the alcohol she was not sure. One thing that seemed to register was that Galinda's voice had become deeper. Much, much deeper.

From closer inspection, she realised that it was not Galinda's voice she was hearing, but Boq's. Her head snapped up away from the blonde, both rather disappointed with the loss of the almost-contact. Boq's eyebrows were drawn down, knowing what he was about to witness, though it didn't actually happen, so he could pretend he hadn't seen it.

"Boq? What on earth are you doing here?"

"Nessa told me I'd find you here. The charmed circle are going out to celebrate the end of exams, oh, wont you both come? We're just in one of the bars down the road?" He ignored the fact that Galinda was not so subtly staring at Elphaba for the majority of his speaking time.

Elphie looked down to the still close blonde. A question on her face, to which Galinda just shrugged. She was still rather despondent when Elphie answered for the both of them

"Maybe just one, then" Boq was impressed with this response and began to lead the way back to the bar. Elphie gave the smaller girl a sad smile, and linked her arm.

Upon entering the bar, they were met by the Charmed Circle in various states of inebriation. A live band played in the corner of the room, it was an upbeat song that provided the encouragement for the majority of drunken students to dance. Avaric was particularly drunk, slobbering over Pfannee, whilst Shenshen attempted to regain his attention. Her attempts were relatively unsuccessful. Nessa sat in the corner, preparing to leave with Nanny.

"Charming. Can you not bear to look at us?" Elphaba smiled.

"Old Nanny needs to get Nessie home, Nanny's had a long day and needs a relax, the air here is no good for little Nessie either. I hope to see you soon. Nanny doesn't want to see you sick tomorrow, too much sick from your mother" which earned a grimace from Nessarose. She was not fond of Nanny's blasé attitude when it came to their mother.

The pair took up the abandoned seats that Nessa and Nanny had previously occupied, both staying rather close to one another as drinks with questionable alcohol content were slid in front of them by Boq. Apparently, they were doing shots, and both girls needed something to take away the feeling that was still thickly hanging between them, neither willing to admit what had just occurred in the darkened streets.

Two shots later, the girls seemed to be loosening up, the alcohol lowering inhibitions and helping to destroy the atmosphere that had rolled between them. Elphie's arm had found its way around Galinda's shoulders as Avaric told a particularly interesting story of his privileged childhood. Pfannee and Shenshen were captivated, adding each nugget of information to their mental portfolio of Avaric. Elphaba found it quite disgusting.

Clearly the attentions of Crope and Tibbett were not as easily held, the pair moving onto the dance floor to join in with the latest fad dance. Their supreme flourishes were equipped, with floating hands and dramatic spins, which left many people staring. They presumed it was a good thing.

The act was abruptly ended by the sound of a large wail, Crope sprawled on the floor and Tibbett trying his hardest not to laugh. Apparently, they had not practised that lift enough, but in true showman style, the act did go on, only with slightly more limping.

Back at the table, Fiyero had moved around to Galinda's other side – the music was loud enough to interrupt the flow of conversation. He had begun to discuss his summer plans with the girls, since Avaric had decided that the two girls were much more interesting than his story and stopped speaking mid-sentence to go and dance with the giggling pair.

Fiyero's discussion of his summer plans raised the question of what Galinda would be getting up to, resulting in a quite unpleasant surge of emotion. Elphaba had grown used to the sight of blonde curls, and didn't particularly relish the idea of Galinda leaving her for a long while.

She frequently wondered about this, the desire to be close to the blonde. It may be considered an inconvenience, for parting would cause such an ache in her chest. It wasn't a dependency on the blonde, it just provided a nice feeling when close to her.

Fiyero would not be going anywhere for the summer, waiting at home for him would be a wife, and royal duties, which he did not care for. Admittedly, the role of a prince was tempting; riches, comfort and a nicely prepared life awaited him. Along side this, an arranged marriage.

Ideally, Fiyero would have preferred the chance to fall in love. For his warrior like physique, and gruff voice, deep down, he was just a typical romantic. He was different to the students of Shiz, who were so unused to seeing a dark skin colour, he supposed that he and Elphie had this in common, it would be their alliance. Still, he supposed tradition was more important than the desires of a twenty year old.

The questioning then turned to Galinda, as to where she would be residing this summer. Elphaba needn't have worried, Galinda had decided that she would remain in Shiz for the summer, leaving for a week to visit the Gillikin. Her parents encouraged the distance, a young lady needed her time to grow and learn. And how much she had grown this past year.

This new information caused Elphaba's chest to swell to the point where she couldn't help but to pull the blonde even closer, which was almost impossible at this point, and leave a lingering kiss on her temple. Fiyero was looking away at this point, to give the girls some privacy. He knew what was happening, and rather liked the idea of the two girls happy together.

Avaric and Boq reappeared at this time, Avaric looking quite worse for wear.

"A beautiful rose between two thorns" he slurred at Galinda, who felt Elphaba's arm tighten slightly, pulling her into her side.

"Yes Avaric, but what is a rose without her thorns?" Fiyero retorted, smiling.

"Nothing" Galinda almost breathed, loud enough for only Elphaba to hear, who looked down. "Absolutely nothing without you". And in that second, the rather thick atmosphere had returned, Elphaba stood rather abruptly and offered a hand.

"If you wouldn't mind Miss Galinda, I'd like to dance" there was a question there, almost as if Galinda would refuse. There was more chance of Horrible Morrible entering the bar and launching into a full ballet routine than Galinda saying no to Elphie. Her hand was quickly grasped and the two headed out to the dance floor, Avaric and Fiyero following quickly behind.

It was another of those dance crazes - fast paced, and quite funny for Galinda, who was watching Elphaba attempt to keep up with the pace set by the music. The bony thing was all elbows, and had little grace, but that did little to prevent the way she danced. Galinda didn't stray far, keeping Elphie within her sights, who seemed to be getting the gist of the dance. When she had finally managed to move somewhat in time with the music, the song was over.

A pouting Elphaba was an interesting sight, at which Galinda burst out into a fit of giggles. She resembled more of an angry duck, the mental imagery of this prompted forth and other round of giggling, which Elphaba could not help but join in with. They were clinging to one another now, wheezing, the alcohol was certainly making her feel much more expressive.

The blonde left the dance floor to get another drink after the impromptu giggle fit had ceased as a slower song started to play. She did not get far before her wrist was caught by a green hand.

"How about a dance?" she asked.

Thoughts of getting a drink could not have left Galinda's head faster as she spun around with a breathed "Yes". Perhaps it sounded slightly more enthusiastic than she would have liked, but at this point, she really did not care.

They were extremely close again, lovers around them had taken up the traditional pose for dancing, and Elphaba realised that maybe it wasn't such a good idea for two supposed friends to be dancing like this. A nervousness built within her, as did potential excuses to move away, she didn't want to harm Galinda's reputation.

A quick survey of the room would point her in the direction of the nearest bathroom. As dark eyes began to sweep the room over Galinda's head, she saw Crope and Tibbett dancing alongside the couples, in a rather intimate pose. Further sweeping the room, she saw Pfannee and Shenshen dancing closely, and Avaric whooping and hollering next to them. She was certain that they were just doing this for his enjoyment. She rolled her eyes.

To her left, she noticed Boq pushing through the crowds, eyes focused only on Galinda. This was all the encouragement she needed to take a trim waist in one hand, interlace pale fingers with her other and glance down with a smile on her face at the blonde, who was looking up, equal reverence on her face. It was for Galinda's sake, she told herself.

Elphaba felt a small hand creep up her arm and come to rest on her shoulder. She also noted how blue eyes momentarily flicked over to where Boq was standing. He pulled his gaze from the floor and gave Galinda a sad smile, then looked at Elphie, the same smile on his face, before slowly turning and walking back to the bar.

His poor mood did not last for much longer before Fiyero had picked him up (something he rather hated due to his height) then deposited him next to a giggling Milla. Fiyero was more of a match maker than he gave himself credit for.

The engrossed pair began to move slowly together, for onlookers, it must have been an odd sight, the beautiful blonde in the arms of an ungainly, green girl. They didn't care at all. Their eyes remaining firmly locked together. Elphaba took the liberty of pulling the blonde closer, their fronts firmly connected now. It was a student bar, propriety was something very much not in place here. The lowered inhibitions coupled with the darkened room, alcohol and closeness of one another was creating an extremely intimate atmosphere.

The song continued with the pair moving in time. Other couples around them had given into their desires and were in various states of liplock. It didn't help to curb the want written all over both girls faces, that close encounter in the darkened street earlier was forefront of both minds. It was too tempting. Just to lean in and allow herself a small taste of the blonde's lips. Something she had denied herself for so long. Those feelings that the blonde caused were becoming suffocating in the best possible way, she just wanted to let herself drown in Galinda. It would be the best way to go, she thought.

The song had finished by now, but the pair seemed not to care. Elphaba leaned down, for the second time that night, resting her forehead against Galinda's. Eye contact was still not broken. That delightful sensation had settled in Elphaba's stomach again. It was all so new and exciting.

A shift of her face caused their noses to touch, both of the blonde's hands had found their way around Elphaba's neck, whilst green hands had wrapped themselves around Galinda's waist. They were still swaying slightly, though the band had not yet picked up with a new song. Perhaps they were dancing to their own internal song, the rhythm set by their beating hearts. The moment was perfection.

All of the time spent in denial seemed not to matter now. Peripheral details shrunk away into blackness. It was just the two of them. Neither could identify the exact moment when the pull of the other became too strong to bear, but before they knew it, they were moving closer to one another, a brush of lips being the main goal.

Timings were something that Elphaba lived by. Choosing the correct moment to comment or initiate an action were essential to the success of the event. This is why almost every movement had been preplanned and calculated, to the precise moment.

Of course she had been rather nervous about kissing the blonde, goodness knows she had imagined how the situation would play out, though she had never planned it. She supposed this wasn't something that really could be planned though.

When she first heard about the feelings associated with love – the weak knees, addled brain, all those other classic things, she thought it was ludicrous, any event could be preplanned, as long as a level head was maintained. Actually being in the situation was another story. Still, she believed the timing was perfect.

Timing, was however, something that Avaric was not good at, especially when intoxicated. He chose the exact second before thin green lips finally connected with pink to stage his appearance.

"Having fun are we, girlies?" He slurred, practically pushing in between them. Galinda could not help the almost guttural growl that escaped her lips. Two times this had happened in less that three hours. Two times too many, in her opinion. Those lips had almost been hers for the taking, and this oaf had just ruined the moment. Elphaba was staring at her with widened eyes, before directing her attentions to Avaric.

Livid would not be a word to describe the green girl at this moment in time.

"leave, now" she hissed at him

"Oh, have I ruined the ambiance? Shame, that. She's quite the catch though, do you not think, Miss Elphie?"

"Remove yourself before I remove your head" She replied, rather matter of factly. Her voice had returned to its calm level, even though her heart had not yet stopped its fast beating. Galinda moved closer now and joined hands with Elphie.

After staring at their joined hands, he twitched an eyebrow then set out to find Pfannee and Shenshen.

Galinda was still breathing heavily when Elphaba leaned down.

"Come with me, would you? I've had enough of morons for one night" to which Galinda nodded and followed.

The pair hailed a cab and sat together, Elphaba's arm around Galinda, who had intertwined their free hands. Elphie buried her face into blonde curls to leave a lingering kiss. She hoped it would be interpreted as an apology of sorts, she was certainly sorry that Avaric had appeared. It lead to thoughts of what may have happened if they'd been allowed a second more. What situation would they be in right now?

An ache in her heart, she pulled the smaller girl closer, removing her hand to pull the smaller girl into her lap. Their foreheads came together again. Sad eyes met before Elphie pulled her into a hug. She contemplated another kiss, third time lucky and all that, but she felt that the back of a cab wasn't the exact image she had fantasised for their first kiss. Not that she would admit it. She wanted it to be nice. Romantic maybe.

They remained this way for the rest of the journey, Galinda had nodded off in her lap. When the cab finally arrived at the campus she began to stroke the blonde's curls, gently waking her up. She received a grateful smile as she helped the smaller girl down, remaining connected until they reached their room. There was a deflated feeling that had rooted in both of them.

Both quickly prepared for bed. The evening had been enjoyable though not exactly as planned. Both were thoroughly disappointed that certain feelings could not be further explored, but still, they were certain that their feelings were mutual. That was one benefit. Perhaps they would embarrassed tomorrow, when the alcohol had left their system, though that was not something they wished to dwell on.

Galinda lifted her duvet after climbing into her bed. "Elphie" she whispered. The green girl rolled over to look at the blonde. "Won't you come and hold me, please?"

Within ten seconds she was in the blonde's bed, one arm trapped beneath her, the other pulling her closer, as a head rested on her chest.

"We shan't be making a habit of this" Elphaba murmured into blonde hair. Of course it was a lie. She rather hoped it would happen more often.

A huff was the response she received. Galinda too knew how much of a lie that was. She pretended she didn't know this. One thing she did know was that she would be safely wrapped in Elphie's arms again tomorrow night.

It wasn't a kiss, but she supposed it was good enough for now.


	5. Chapter 5

The streets of Shiz were rife with activity, the passing of the exam season meant that high summer was just around the corner. All the more reason to celebrate. Posters advertising upcoming events had started to appear on various trees, including that of the Charmed Circle's. The group sat beneath it, Galinda fanning herself as Elphie pulled her close, so the pair were leaning against one another. It was muggy and hot, though that would not stop her from being close to the beautiful creature.

Crope's eye caught sight of the leaflet first, quickly followed by Tibbett, which caused a bit of a scramble in order to reach it first. Neither was successful, as Boq had stood during the squabbling and plucked it off the tree. The two hadn't noticed, they'd completely forgotten about their goal and were engaged in an intense tickle fight.

"The Summer Festival of Light" he read to the group, giving the leaflet a little wave. Fiyero reached out and took the brightly coloured paper from him. Many talked about the festival, widely celebrated throughout oz. According to local gossip, Shiz's celebrations were often the most sought after, comparable only to those of the Emerald City. Of course they would be going.

Galinda had looked up at Elphaba as Fiyero continued to read out highlights of the event. Apparently, it would be for the entire day, stalls selling all kinds of trinkets, and various activities that would probably make Elphie roll her eyes (mood dependent.) The evening would then finish with an outdoor dance party and fireworks. It looked to be a good day out. The blonde wiggled her eyebrows at Elphaba.

"It certainly sounds delightful"stated the blonde, to which Elphaba could only agree. It was decided then. They would embark the next afternoon, the event would be held just outside of the campus, next to the river, it was a summer party after all, swimming was almost guaranteed.

The rest of the day was spent rather lazily, the heat of the afternoon causing all of the Charmed Circle to become quite lethargic. Galinda and Elphie had disappeared for a short while, which led to much speculation from Crope and Tibbett. Upon their return they were met with giggling from the two boys.

"Did you two have fun?"

"Oh, I imagine they did!"

"Well, Miss Galinda and I had gone to get supplies-" at this she wiggled a picnic basket full of food "-But if you're going to be crass, I don't believe we should share. Maybe I shall take Miss Galinda away and we shall have our own romantic meal, as you two are so fond of imagining it".

Galinda had to take a moment to think how clever that was of Elphie. It would be interpreted as sarcasm by the others, however, they both knew there was something else there. Frankly, she wouldn't mind going for another romantic meal with Elphie, sharing fresh fruit and whatnot.

"Are you okay, Miss Galinda? Honestly, you two should be ashamed, look how you've embarrassed her" as per, Boq was at her side, completely misinterpreting her silence. She quickly thanked and dismissed him with a wave of her hand. That hero complex making itself known again.

"Oh come now, Miss Elphie. I suppose we could share a bit. Two young ladies such as ourselves couldn't dare hope to eat all of this". The blonde winked. Clearly Elphie was in one of her 'speak for yourself moods' as could be seen from the ravenous was she was eating apple she'd already removed from the basket. Typical.

"You're such a pig" the blonde giggled.

Elphaba pulled her down by her hand and whispered into her ear "ah yes, but I am your pig" and snorted, at which, Galinda let out a laugh. Only Elphaba could compare herself to swine and still manage to be charming.

The basket was placed in the centre of the circle, and quickly leaped upon by the boys. Nanny had been baking, much to their delight. The two girls were sharing a pastry when Avaric, Pfannee, and Shenshen appeared just down the path. Galinda crammed the rest of the pastry into her mouth, which Elphaba was rather upset by, hand hovering limply in the air where she was about to remove a nibble.

She used the opportunity to make more pig sounds at the blonde who had jam dribbling down her chin. It was unintentional, and she was really quite embarrassed. Thankfully no one else had noticed, save for Elphie, who found the whole debacle quite hilarious. She pulled a handkerchief out and dabbed at the mess on the blonde's chin.

Avaric had reached their tree by now.

"Are you coming to the bash tomorrow?" he asked. The response was a sound of general agreement from the rest of the group.

"I shall look forward to seeing you there" he began to walk away, stopping briefly "Oh, and Miss Elphaba, apologies for my behaviour last week. It seems that punch does not agree with me" He turned and walked away quite quickly. The Charmed Circle were quiet for a short while, that display from Avaric was very uncharacteristic. For all their debates and loathing, it was clear that he had a certain respect for Elphaba.

The Circle gradually began to fall back into their usual banter. Their attentions were held until the food was gone, and Elphaba slumped back, sliding down the tree. Galinda had no choice but to follow, or so she told herself. Parts of the circle began to break away shortly after. Crope and Tibbett claiming that they had shopping to do for tomorrow. Galinda daren't think of what they would be buying.

Elphaba stretched a few seconds later, cracking her fingers.

"Shall we disappear, darling?"

The blonde nodded and proceeded to help Fiyero pack up the remains into their picnic basket.

* * *

That evening Galinda spent time preparing for the next day, hunting down an appropriate summer dress and accessories, before selecting something for Elphie. Dark as per. Apparently her sway on Elphie was not strong enough to persuade her to wear a floral dress. She would have to cope and work with what she had.

Elphie lazed on her bed, deep in thought. It had been a week since that hazy night at the bar. Surprisingly enough, neither girl seemed to regret the events brought about by the cover of darkness, this could be observed from the way they had shared a bed every night since. The intimate events of that night were not discussed, though a new level of flirtation was becoming increasing prevalent.

Galinda had developed the habit of caressing Elphaba's face each night before they fell asleep, dragging a finger across prominent cheekbones. At first, the green girl was rather taken aback, freezing as Galinda's hand crept closer, though she quickly melted as soft sensations took over.

You can imagine her surprise when Galinda rose up and gave her a peck just on the corner of her mouth. Perhaps it was an unspoken admission, either way it was quite lovely, and prompted forth many interesting feelings for Elphaba. She frequently found herself mentally recreating the moment when bored, remembering the feel of soft, pink lips.

Sleep came quickly that night, as it had for the past week. Wrapped in each others arms, the world seemed a more comforting place. They allowed themselves a few moments of just watching one another, Galinda's finger drifting across Elphie's face, before stroking her lips for a split second.

She felt Elphie's breath catch. For a moment, she entertained the idea of another kiss, maybe less on the cheek and slightly more on those lips. Propriety won out. She moved her hand onto Elphie's chest, just over her heart, then burrowed further into the solid body next to her. She was already rather warm, but she didn't care too much, a minor sacrifice is what it would be.

* * *

The next day, the charmed Circle met under their tree and proceeded to catch a cab down the road. Crope and Tibbett had found extraordinarily bright floral shirts to wear, accessioning with very large sunglasses. They seemed proud of the looks they were receiving from other people milling around campus. Galinda had opted for a basic summer dress, a floppy hat on top of her head and Elphie on one arm, wearing one of her basic dresses. Galinda had given up on trying to wrestle her into a pretty dress. Best to let her wear what she wanted.

Fiyero had been the perfect gentleman and offered to carry Galinda and Elphie's belongings from the coach, Boq following quickly behind. They arrived at the event site, gazebos set up to offer shelter from the hot sun. Crope and Tibbett raced ahead to locate a good space, screeching to a halt on a table with a quite delightful view next to the river. Their belongings were deposited, and the troupe sat for a while waiting for more people to appear, for the atmosphere to liven up.

Galinda had chosen to sit in the centre of an abundant flower patch. Of course, Elphie was not far behind. It made a rather nice mental image, just the two of them surrounded by flowers. She imagined them as a painting. Galinda lay back for a short while, and let her mind wonder. She often thought about herself in relation to Elphie, now more so than ever. Watching the way the green girl would go about daily life, all that time spent doubting if Elphie felt the same.

She dared a glance to the girl in question, who was fiddling with some flowers she had pulled up. She seemed to exist in such a hateful world, yet she was still so full of hope and promise. It was a magnificent thing, to remain steadfast in her beliefs whilst the world around her threw ridicule at each and every opportunity.

Long green fingers deftly managed the flowers she was working with now. The blonde just enjoyed watching Elphie.

She imagined what would happen if their feelings were allowed to blossom. Perhaps society would disapprove, maybe her family would be shocked, but what did it matter? She had spent so much time perfecting herself, trying to recreate what magazines and vindictive friends had taught her. The perfectly ignorant young lady. At the time, she knew no better. Since Elphie, she felt different, as long as she was not harming anyone, it shouldn't matter. No, it wouldn't matter.

How queer she felt when thinking of the green girl in such a way. Would anything ever become of them, or was it just teenage lust brought about by hormones? She thought it felt like more than that. More than anything. It was a wonderfully consuming feeling.

A quick nudge from the green girl startled her from her thoughts, and any doubt was quickly pushed away at the adoring look Elphie was giving her. She sat up quickly, before green hands had held out a necklace of flowers. Galinda thought it may have been the most wonderful gift she'd ever received. Elphie slipped the proffered gift over her head, and it felt like a ceremony of sorts. Her crowning.

She felt like the gesture should be a mutual one, and so attempted to make a bracelet for Elphie. She did not get far, her attempts resulting in a shredded heap of flowers. She hadn't much practise at this sort of thing. She remembered being snapped at by her mother as a child for destroying a pile of Gillikin roses, whilst playing 'he loves me, he loves me not'. That seemed to discourage any further botanical interest.

Elphie intervened when the pile of poor flowers had grown in size, and the blonde had begun to lose patience. Green hands joined hers from behind, Elphie's arms had wrapped around her waist to help. It was slightly uncomfortable, sitting the way they were, but she was certain she would manage.

"Like this" she murmured into the blonde's ear, fingers weaving the flowers through one another.

She made a rather hasty escape when she looked up to find Boq looking at them with raised eyebrows. Galinda seemed to know what she was doing by now, she reasoned, and had continued to make the chain, attaching it to Elphie's wrist upon completion. She was quite proud of her handy work.

The group then left their table to go and explore the stalls, since many more students had appeared and music had begun to play. Game stalls were set up at various points, amongst those selling little trinkets.

The circle disbanded for a while, Crope, Tibbett and Boq wondering off to find the game stalls. Fiyero had met with Avaric and disappeared, along side Pfannee and Shenshen. This left the two girls more alone time. How terrifically convenient. Elphaba had an inkling that Fiyero had planned it. She was becoming more fond of the boy.

The two wondered around for a while, hand in hand. Galinda had found something that had caught her eye and vanished for a while with a promise of a few seconds parting, leaving Elphie to continue to peruse through a stall of books she'd found. She returned rather quickly, being a woman of her word, she was not one for breaking those – promises. A tap on the shoulder caused Elphie to turn rather abruptly, in her hand she offered out two simple bracelets.

"To remember today by, and to remember each other" she said whilst tying it around Elphie's wrist.

"As if I could ever forget you... You speak as though we are about to part, you're not abandoning me are you?"

"Never" replied the blonde, completing the knot on a green wrist.

Those meaningful little moments were happening much more frequently now, little promises that meant so very much. The moment was becoming thick again, so Elphie tapped her on the nose, and the pair continued their browsing.

* * *

When the group rejoined at the table, Elphaba had acquired a rather large stack of books.

"They were cheap" came the tart response when questioned. She seemed quite happy with her purchases, not to mention the two bracelets attached to her wrist, she had a small smile to herself.

She was snapped out of her reverie by two loud splashes. Clearly Crope and Tibbett had found the river. Fiyero and Avaric followed quickly behind.

None of the girls dared to swim, it was wholly improper. That did not stop Avaric from attempting to coax them in, they resisted his advances, causing him to leap out of the water and lavish his doting followers with a wet hug. The expected laughter did not come, instead disgusted shrieks permeated the air, as the pair snatched up their purses and stormed away. Elphaba found it quite funny, safe and dry beside Galinda, who was attempting to quiet her before the enraged girls heard.

The pair watched from the riverbank, picking at food Elphie had bought. Galinda had dared to pull her shoes off, enjoying the feeling of grass between her toes. She then crept closer to Elphie, a devilish smile on her face. Elphie rather liked that smile. She did not, however, like when Galinda had descended onto her leg and started to pull on her boots, causing something akin to a honk to escape from her mouth. After flailing for all of five seconds, she lay back in defeat as Galinda removed her socks, giving her toes a quick wiggle.

The blonde crawled back up then, and rested a head on her shoulder. Elphie didn't have the heart to move her. She did however, move extremely quickly when a soggy Boq appeared, water droplets from his hair falling a little bit too close for comfort. She watched as he apologised. She couldn't help it, as the beads of water made a path down his face, how smoothly they rolled against pale flesh, leaving tracks, not blisters. It was a fate she had grown to accept.

Galinda seemed to have picked up on the change in mood, and stood up to place a hand over Elphie's heart. It was beating quite quickly.

"Are you okay?" she asked, to which she received a nod. She took a green hand and pulled the taller girl closer, offering her the picnic basket and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. The rest of the circle quickly got out of the water when the opportunity of food had presented itself.

They had a short while to rest after eating, basking in the sun to dry themselves until the festivities of the evening were starting to begin.

The sound of music had increased, and students were starting to gather on the grass, a large bonfire in the centre of the attractions. Avaric and Boq had gone to fetch drinks for the group. Punch again. Best ensure that Avaric didn't take too much.

Upon their return, they moved to the centre of the festivities, drinks in hand. The sun had begun its descent now. It was such an inspiring moment for Elphie, all of these people, from different walks of life, standing together to watch the sun dip behind the horizon. It caused a new feeling for Elphaba, maybe she wasn't so different after all. She turned to the blonde next to her, the sun casting a glow to her face, she looked up and gave Elphaba's hand a squeeze.

The students had all begun to countdown now, backwards from the ten as the sun struggled to remain for a few seconds longer. They reached zero as it disappeared behind the horizon, a faint glow the only indicator that it had been there moments earlier. A large cheer erupted, and candles in the trees were lit, as was the bonfire, and upbeat music began to play. The group had turned into a collective dancing mass.

The circle had also started to dance, quite reserved at first, but as more punch was handed out, inhibitions dissipated. Dancing became more expressive, which was a feat in itself as far as Crope and Tibbett were concerned. Fiyero had good naturedly pulled Boq into a dance, something Vinkan, a warrior dance of sorts, the smaller boy trying his hardest to imitate Fiyero's timbre voice and moves. Avaric was gasping with delighted laughter.

The group launched into a dance around the bonfire. When the dancing had slowed, Galinda stood a short distance away from the fire, watching as the flames themselves seemed to jump and dance with the music still playing. A boy she frequently saw around campus had appeared next to her, the way his drink sloshed over the cup and his slurred speech were evidence enough to imply inebriation.

"Are you in need of a strapping, young fellow to dance the night away?" he finished with a smile. She supposed it would only cause offence to turn him down, he seemed polite enough. Ideally, Elphie would be waltzing her around the field by now, but the green girl had disappeared moments ago to fetch more drinks. They began to dance side by side, he'd taken Galinda's hand in his own, spinning her around. He wasn't too bad at dancing, she thought to herself.

As the music drew to a close, he leaned in. "perhaps a kiss?"

It was highly improper and unwanted.

"Sorry, I'm involved with another" she blurted in response. No clue where that had come from. It was at that moment that Elphie reappeared, and the boy gave both girls a nod and smile, kissed Galinda's hand and continued on his way.

"I didn't realise you had a sweetheart" she smiled as she handed over the drink.

"I might have" came the shy response. "dance with me, Elphie". And they did.

The previous week had been beneficial for practising, though this was much more relaxed. Their attention was drawn up to the sky as explosions of colour illuminated the scene. Fireworks. Galinda was very fond of them, it reminded her of childhood parties, watching from her father's shoulders.

Elphie was behind her now, two arms snaked around her waist, pulling back flush against Elphie's front. They swayed like this for a while, watching the fireworks. Her hands came to rest on top of Elphies and she could not help the feelings that rolled through her. A pointed chin rested on top of her head, occasionally leaning down to plant kisses into golden hair.

Galinda stilled for a while and turned to Elphie, who kept her arms firmly around Galinda's waist.

"Its frightfully warm here" she stated. They were standing quite close to the bonfire. "Come, walk with me please?" She had ensnared Elphie's hand now, and all but dragged her away from the crowds. If the green girl wanted to escape, she made absolutely no attempt. She followed Galinda down to the waters edge amongst the trees, occasionally stumbling over eager feet that could not keep up with her mind.

Galinda had turned to her now. The bonfire, though far away, was casting a small light, and the music could still be heard very clearly.

"Lets have another dance, shall we?" At which, she took Galinda's waist like the previous week, and pale hands reached around her neck. They stood forehead to forehead moving in time with the music, fireworks occasionally throwing colour onto the situation. Elphaba had never felt more colourful, each explosion would illuminate Galinda and herself, they were the exact same shade, even if only for a few seconds. She moved her hands to cup Galinda's face, green thumbs caressing flushed cheeks.

"Elphie" her voice was thick. That bubble sensation was back again. Her muddled brain scrabbled for a response.

"Are you – do you think – do you need to go back?" A stream of half sentences fell from her mouth. Galinda's hot breath on her cheek was not helping.

"Don't be dense Elphie. I need you" She was puling her closer, a thousand thoughts may have flashed through Elphie's head, yet nothing at all could just of easily presented itself. She didn't know anymore. Perhaps she thought about the chance of Boq or Avaric returning and shattering the moment again. One thing was certain, she was very much confident that those lips were getting closer.

Perhaps this is what it felt like to be completely submerged underwater, sounds seemingly distant, and an absolute stillness. She didn't know if Galinda's name had tumbled rather breathlessly from her mouth, but she did know that they were so, so close now.

Apparently she had uttered the blondes name from the way her hands had tightened, a burning filled her cheeks and she was certain the butterflies in her stomach were close to escaping. What a sight that would be. Elphaba had never experienced need like it. She felt her heart hammering, but it felt far away. Everything felt far away. Then there was Galinda.

A feeling of doubt trickled through to the forefront of her mind. The green girl had absolutely no experience with such matters. She worried that her kisses would be sloppy and unpractised, but the novelty of the situation is what made her crave it even more. With those blue eyes staring so expectantly into hers, Elphaba threw caution into the wind, and for the first time in her life, without careful pre-planning, rushed head first into the storm.

Their lips brushed gently and she was grounded but thrown into the stars at the same time. She could have been one of those fireworks.

She was struck stupid, all thoughts stopped, save for a primal need to feel Galinda's lips against hers. She tilted her head and leaned in again, a tongue used to moisten her lips. They remained together for longer this way, lips moving against one another, breath mingling together. Galinda's hands were in her hair now, tugging her closer. A breathless, high pitched moan escaped from her. It was wanting, needing and absolutely full of hunger.

Her hands crept up Galinda's back as their lips moved fervidly. Galinda felt on cloud nine. Such strong desire caused her head to spin. She wanted Elphaba, wanted to give her everything. Her heart, her mind, her everything, and wanted everything in return. Her dreams did not compare to the actual feeling of Elphaba's demanding hands in her hair, her hands in Elphaba's hair, equally as desperate. Pulling closer.

It must have been all those passionate years spent fighting for her cause - backing the Animals, but in that moment, her crusade had changed. For the time being, Galinda was her only cause. The blonde had stepped into her life and now this.

If she believed in fate, she would be certain that they were meant to be. Written in the stars and all that. Unfortunately, Elphaba was neither poetic or was she one to believe in such frivolous things, but with the blonde's lips firmly attached to her own, Elphaba would believe in anything.

Galinda thought she felt complete, but as Elphie's tongue brushed her bottom lip a stronger urgency filled her. She let out a whimper, a seemingly pathetic noise for what she was feeling. The green girl was thoroughly frantic by now, wanting to elicit more of those delightful noises, from both the blonde and herself.

Galinda's mouth opened to hers and their tongues met just as a firework erupted behind them. A bold desperation had developed. It was an odd sensation, having Galinda's tongue hungrily invading her mouth, but she found it quite addictive and set about returning the favour.

It was an urgent need to map the blondes mouth. They became more frenzied then, whimpers and moans cutting into the still night air. Elphaba grunted as she was pushed against a tree, the wanton need written all over the blonde's face had awoken something in her. They came together again. She felt whole. She felt delirious. She wasn't an outcast anymore, she meant something to someone, and in the end, is that not what everyone wanted?

She broke away from Galinda then, head leaning back against the tree as Galinda sucked and nipped at her bottom lip. It prompted a delighted moan. She uttered Galinda's name again and again, it seemed to be the only thing she was capable of, since all cognitive function had ceased. The smaller girl grasped her by the collar and pulled her closer again, their foreheads pressed together.

Elphie leaned in for another kiss, but Galinda had pulled away a second later. Had she been in a more capable mood, she would be rather amused by Galinda's teasing. Alas, her mind was not at its strongest, and she leant forwards again, lips searching, only to have Galinda spin them. The blonde moved backwards then, her back against the tree.

A pale leg rose and Elphie grasped it by the knee, wrapping it around her waist. They rejoined then, a blissful feeling overtook her. She kissed across a flushed cheek, then dragged her tongue down Galinda's neck.

The breathless call of her name was intoxicating, so she did it again, suckling on the pale skin. Galinda's breathless panting was causing a warmth in her stomach. She had never expected the blonde to call her name in such a manner. She could not put a name to the feeling. She needed Galinda like oxygen.

She moved her attentions away from Galinda's neck then, however, noticing the red mark on pale skin caused a slight shock. She had no clue what to expect, but was slightly startled, she staggered back slightly causing Galinda's leg to drop from her waist.

The blonde was puzzled for a moment, and decided to remedy the situation by placing several kisses in quick succession on Elphie's mouth, which seemed to distract her from whatever had stopped those glorious lips from caressing her own. She was kissing her again, long, hot kisses, which turned back into smaller ones, which turned into a loving stare between the two. Elphie nudged their noses together. They stayed that way for a while, both attempting to regain their breath.

"Oh my" breathed the blonde, seeming to say many things at once. Elphaba responded by nuzzling her head into blonde hair. They remained in their tight embrace for what seemed like forever. Galinda rather hoped that they'd stay this way for eternity, it was, after all, a delightful feeling being wrapped in those green arms.

Elphaba's voice broke the silence "We should return soon, before a search party is sent out"

"Hmm" the blonde replied, before leaning up to plant one more kiss before running up the hill. "Race you!" she playfully called over her shoulder.

The kiss had contented Elphaba for a short while, until the blonde's words registered. The smug little beast. She took off at a sprint, catching her up and spinning her around seconds later. The blonde laughed and leaned down to plant a kiss on green lips.

Elphaba deposited the smaller girl back onto the floor, before leading her back to the fire hand in hand. It all felt so natural, like they'd been this way forever. Galinda fancied them star-crossed lovers. Elphaba fancied Galinda. It was near enough a mutual, fanciful feeling.

Apparently, they'd been gone longer than first thought, the fireworks had stopped, and a few of the students had left, though many remained, dancing along to the dwindling flames of the bonfire. The charmed circle were preparing to retrieve their belongings and leave when the two girls returned.

"We thought you'd left without... without a goodbye" Boq slurred. He was quite sauced. Elphaba felt drunk, though not from the alcohol.

"Where have you two been for so long? I could have used your help" Crope questioned, gesturing to Tibbett, very much passed out on the floor next to him.

"Oh, just checking that all of our belongings were still there, then Elphie found her books. You know how entranced she becomes, left me to entertain myself" Elphaba raised her eyebrows at the quick thinking and horrific lie. Entertain herself indeed. Her lips and bruised neck said otherwise.

The group returned to the table at the water's edge to collect their things, Avaric and Boq sharing the weight of Tibbett. The trek back to campus had begun. Crope had 'borrowed' a wheelbarrow from a nearby garden, in which, Tibbett and the majority of their belongings were deposited. Avaric wheeled him back. They didn't expect to be able to get a cab at this time.

Elphaba and Galinda followed behind Fiyero, hands firmly intertwined. He turned back to the pair.

"Those books must have been terrific, you were gone for an age". Galinda blushed and Elphie nodded.

"They were filled with biological mechanisms, what can I say, I love a good read!" she'd said that much too enthusiastically. Galinda made a mental note to teach Elphie how to tell a convincing lie, Fiyero seemed to believe it though.

"Ah, thrilling" he replied, before leaning in closer, offering a tissue "You have lipstick smeared all over your face". A wink.

Elphaba grumbled a response and Galinda laughed, lifting their joined hands to kiss the back of green fingers.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello lovelies, as you may have seen on my tumblr, this story is going to have nine chapters in total, so yes, just to let you know. I have plans or a few oneshots too! Anyway, I shall leave you to your reading now. Please review, if you'd like. That'd be fab!**

* * *

The following week, the two spent the majority of their time connected, though not by the hand for a change. This time, their routine consisted of passionate kisses when the temptation became much too much to bear. Moving into quiet corners, darkened alleyways, or against the wall of their dorm.

Naturally, such intimacy in their room had to be very carefully timed, Nanny's sporadic appearances had almost left them in a rather embarrassing situation more than once. Thank goodness the old woman took her time when shuffling between rooms, her arthritic hips giving them a few seconds to attempt to regain stolen breath.

A few times, they had found themselves almost engaging in a rather intense session of liplock out in the open. It was that time that Galinda had whispered to her, and slid her hand up a green thigh whilst drinking with the charmed circle. It had taken all of her effort not to jump onto the smaller girl and announce her burning passion for everything Galinda. Instead she resorted to having to shut her eyes and pull the blonde's head onto her chest. Her heart was hammering. Another small victory for Galinda.

A few afternoons later, Galinda had found herself pinned against their door after Elphie had hastily pushed her through and caught her up in a disorientating kiss. She had been rather blatant with her flirting that day, practically torturing Elphie with whispered words and soft caresses, in front of the oblivious charmed circle no less.

She had whispered something rather risqué into Elphie's ear which earned a gulp and a terribly thought through excuse of having to study. It was the summer break. No one seemed to notice though, Fiyero quickly diverting the attention elsewhere, he had a good idea as to why Elphie wanted a quick escape. And now, Galinda found both of her legs wrapped around a slim waist as green hands supported her by her thighs and pale hands were tangled in dark hair.

Their urgency had increased greatly over the past three days, Galinda would be leaving to visit her parents at the end of the week. It had become a desperate need to stamp their feelings for one another across each others lips and necks.

After Elphaba had started to slow down with her explorations of the blonde's mouth – something she believed would never lose its novelty, she deposited the smaller girl back onto the floor. Galinda was quick to give an appreciative glance over the dishevelled green girl, blouse unbuttoned from top to bottom.

Elphaba had started to wear an under-shirt, a necessary precaution after the first time Galinda had decided to unbutton her. To put it politely, it was rather embarrassing, and perhaps, quite unexpected. The blonde had expected to meet the usual corset and chemise. Upon reaching green skin, she had realised that this was Elphie she was dealing with, and a new level of embarrassment had been reached. Backing away and fanning at flaming cheeks, Elphie had caught her up into a hug, a rather coarse laugh bubbling forwards.

" You weren't to know" came the comforting words.

"True, but how thrillingly naughty of you, Miss Elphie". Honestly, she shouldn't have expected less.

After their intensely fervid activities, Galinda had buttoned Elphie's shirt back up, reaching up and pulling her down by the collar, giving a peck to green lips. It had become habit now, each morning, Elphie's blouse or dress would be buttoned up by the blonde, and a kiss deposited. Oh how she wanted to kiss those green lips the first time she'd buttoned her blouse. It didn't matter now though, they were certainly making up for lost time.

Safely buttoned up, and hair smoothed down, Galinda had taken a green hand in her own and led Elphie over to the bed, where an empty valise lay. Elphie had other ideas of what the situation could end in. Best not think about those, after all, the blonde was leaving tomorrow.

"Help me pack, would you?" the blonde mumbled. Clearly she was having the same feelings regarding leaving the green girl behind. "Perhaps we could squeeze you into the valise, do you reckon you could fit?"

"I'm green, my darling, not a contortionist. Though I'd certainly give it a go" She chuckled. She'd give anything a go for the blonde.

"Oz, I'm going to miss you, you sarcastic thing". She leant down and pecked green lips before going to her wardrobe and pulling a few dresses from their hangers. Elphaba caught them as they were flung in the general direction of the bed, starting to fold each. She's slipped a little note into the blondes case, safely nestled between her clothing. It'd be a nice surprise, or so she hoped.

After her valise had been filled, she set about lugging the heavy thing closer to the door of the room, an amused Elphie watching from the bed. She snorted when the blonde had reached the door and leaned back with a huff.

"Do you still think all of those shoes were necessary?" The response she received was a balled up pair of socks to the head. She humphed and fell backwards upon contact. Before she could lift herself, Galinda had cleared the room and had tackled her into a tight hug, arms and legs wrapped tightly around Elphie, who strongly returned the embrace.

They were interrupted by the re-entrance of Nanny, who gave them a raised eyebrow. She gave the room a quick survey.

"All packed Galinda, dear?" A nod was the response. She still hadn't removed herself from Elphie. Nanny didn't seem to mind, and according to Elphie, she'd probably seen much worse. "Good. Nanny is going to put Nessie to bed now, so keep it down. Fabala, don't keep her up too long, she has an early morning tomorrow. Nanny will be in early. Fresh dreams" and shuffled back into her room.

Elphaba thought she was just sniffing around to see what they were up to. She liked doing that. The elderly and their constant need to know what was going on.

"We'd best get to sleep, before Nanny reappears" stated the green girl. Galinda knew that this was the best option and set about untangling herself before going to the bathroom to change. Meanwhile, Elphie had changed into her nightdress, and made the pair of them a little nest beneath Galinda's sheets. The girl in question reappeared from the bathroom, free from makeup and corsets, crawling up the sheets to meet Elphie's waiting lips. It was their last alone time for a week, and Galinda wanted to make a lasting impression.

Hungry lips moved against one another, a desperate feeling had consumed them both, not unlike that first kiss they had shared. Galinda was straddling Elphie now, lavishing kisses over her face, neck, hands. Pink lips moved to a green neck, making Elphie moan, she was planning on leaving another mark. Such marks did not go unnoticed by the charmed circle, however, it was easily played down as a burn of some sort, having green skin made things like that moderately easier.

Elphie was breathing her name again, face buried into blonde curls as a pink tongue moved against her jaw. She was about to make another noise when the adjoining door to their room banged rather loudly, sending Galinda rolling sideways very quickly.

"Elphaba Thropp, sleep. Now!" came Nanny's muffled voice through the door. Elphaba's eyes widened as Galinda giggled. She wiggled underneath the covers into Elphaba's waiting arms.

"The majestic lion has been tamed by the humble elder. Who knew?" to which she received a scowl as Elphie huffed. "Oh, come now, I was only jesting Elphie." Still no response. "Elphie?" She didn't believe those comments warranted such a dour response. She huffed and rolled to face away from Elphie, who quickly wrapped both her arms around the blonde and pulled her back, close. A green hand tucked a few stray hairs away from her face.

"A lioness still has her pride" She chortled, then proceeded to kiss a pale neck, nipping occasionally. A rather loud whimper ceased her actions, better not risk the wrath of Nanny, especially if there was a slipper in the area. Many bad memories of Nanny wielding a slipper.

"Come, sleep now, I shall still be here come morning."

* * *

Their peaceful slumber was rudely interrupted by the not at all quiet entrance of Nanny. She'd thrown the curtains open and warbled a song about beautiful mornings before disappearing back into her room. Galinda groggily turned to Elphie, who was propped up on one arm, staring down at her.

"Elphie? I had been thinking last night, since my valise is so terribly heavy, given the fact that I barely dragged it to the door last night, perhaps you'd like to... to come with me?" The valise was the least of her concerns, of course she would manage it, but Elphie didn't need to know that.

"So, I am to believe that you only want me for my valise carrying abilities?" She then took the breath from Galinda's lungs with a quite delightful kiss. "And it has nothing to do with that?" she panted. She was being smug now. Galinda couldn't bring herself to be offended.

"Well, I suppose you are lovely company, I'll give you that. Would you come? We have plenty of room and my parents wouldn't mind"

Elphaba thought for a few seconds, her mind was already made up for her, however, she thought for a few moments. She had nothing better to do, more than likely she'd become rather smarmy and disappear into the library without the blonde near. Nessa had Nanny to care for her, and had already begun to branch out. So it was decided. She leaned back down to nuzzle Galinda's nose with her own.

"Well, I suppose I could. Help me pack then, come on, up up." She all but leapt off the bed, removing her drab dresses and nice blouses that Galinda had bought her from the wardrobe. A battered suitcase was pulled from the depths, and clothing hastily folded and thrown in. Galinda was quickly dismissed, Elphaba had told her to prepare herself since her folding technique was creating more creases than helping.

A short while later, the pair were bidding Nessa and Nanny goodbye as they boarded the train. It was a relatively short ride, roughly two hours, plenty of time to drive Elphie insane with shameless flirting. The green girl lasted all of thirty minutes before removing the hand creeping up her leg and proposing they play a game out of the window. It seemed to speed time up for the an hour before the novelty quickly wore off, Galinda nodding off against the window, which allowed Elphie some reading time. She was awoken when their stop had been reached.

Galinda had moved rather quickly after they had descended from the train, Elphaba stood in the centre of the bustling crowds carrying their bags, looking around rather confusedly. It was easy to lose the blonde in the masses of blonde haired people. Her attention snapped around when she heard Galinda shouting her over. The two people standing behind the blonde must have been her parents. They stood proud, decorated in ornate and expensive looking clothing.

She approached in her usual manner. The pair surveyed her as she neared them, expressions not giving away anything. It must have been that stiff upper lip of the upper class. Upon reaching Galinda's side, she dropped both bags and offered a hand to shake.

"Good day to you both, Its a pleasure to finally meet you" The green girl spoke. Galinda watched with a rather open mouth. How odd for miss Elphie to be so polite. Perhaps she'd been taken by a secret nervousness, first impressions and all that. The usual comments were exchanged, those that were taught to show the highest levels of etiquette. Elphaba noted typical upper class Gillikin names for each – Larena and Highmuster. How very traditional.

Galinda glanced to Elphie, the girl in question was analysing both parents, attempting to search for any hints of malice or repulsion for her colouring. Apparently she had found nothing to be offended about, and smiled at the blonde as they moved to the coach.

The rest of the day was spent rather uneventfully, the pair not seeing much of Galinda's parents after they had eaten lunch. She was, however, rather excited to see Ama Clutch, taking an early retirement. The while ordeal of stepping on a rusty nail could have had a much more disastrous ending. Galinda considered it to be a blessing in disguise, she'd had the chance to meet Elphie, after all.

The initial meeting with Ama Clutch had been slightly undesirable. This was based on the fact that she chose the exact moment that pale hands had undone the top few buttons of Elphies blouse, and their kiss deepened to burst into Galinda's room, arms thrown out in preparation for a hug. She stopped her exclamation short, arms slowly moving to her side.

"I appear to have interrupted a moment" she stated. Elphaba quickly removed her hands and began to re-button her blouse as Galinda ran up her Ama and gathered her into a hug.

"Too much male attention?" she asked, which caused a giggle, a silent blessing from her Ama. She moved backwards then. "You must be Miss Elphaba, its a delight to meet you, oh and Galinda, my duck, you may want to lock the door when your parents are in" she winked and left the room.

For the afternoon, the pair passed the time lazily, which was rather welcome, since the events earlier on in the day had provided more than enough entertainment. They took some time to reconvene in the living room, spending some time with Galinda's parents. Elphaba was warming to them, they didn't ask any intrusive questions, just light hearted nonsense. For the first time, Elphaba thanked propriety.

The next day, they made their way to the side of the lake, into the summer canopy. It was an extremely warm day, heat comparable to that of Quadling country. Elphaba had moved her hair back into a braid, wearing a short sleeved dress. Once again they had brought a picnic basket, which was situated between them. Galinda had found flasks of tea. It was a recurring theme. Food had become central to what they did.

The had both taken books down with them to help pass the time. Galinda's parents were not around often, It was something they'd gotten used to. Their bond was a very strong one, however, work was extremely important to the family, so daytimes were spent earning whilst evenings took on a more relaxed family vibe.

Galinda intended to use the sun to full advantage, wearing her swimming garments to bask in the sun. She took the exact moment that Elphie began to reach for their tea to remove her summer dress, leaving glorious pale flesh on show. Elphaba had not expected this and almost knocked the flask into the water. Galinda had turned to see Elphie scrabbling for the beverage. Her attention was quickly moved from rescuing the flask when she noticed that the blonde was right in front of her.

She was staring. She knew it, yet could not bring herself to look away. She hadn't seen seen this much of Galinda before, and frankly, it was a momentous sight. Galinda must have noticed the gormless stare directed at her as she had begun to giggle. Perhaps she could have some fun with this. She sauntered over to a slightly less that coherent Elphaba and sat next to her, before lifting her chin to regain eye contact and leaning in extremely close to green lips.

"Miss Elphie, are you quite all right? You look somewhat unsound, perhaps I should cover myself up, It simply wouldn't do if you were to hurt yourself" She was teasing her now. A smile tugging at her lips. She thought Elphie was going to continue just staring, but moments later, she was pulled into her lap and a kiss was placed on an uncovered shoulder.

"But my, you look ravishing" the green girl breathed. A blush crept across the blonde's cheeks and she lay back against the green girl.

"You know how to make a lady feel good about herself, Miss Elphie." After a short while, she attempted to wiggle away from the green hands spidering up her back. All protests were immediately stopped as the green girl began to knead. Shoulders dropped and a delighted moan tumbled from her lips. "Wonderful hands" she sighed. They sat like this for a while until Galinda managed to regain some lucidity.

"Let me up, my parents could catch us" she sounded about as willing as Elphie to stop that wonderful massage. Nevertheless she was released by those magic fingers and made her way onto the chair opposite. It was getting much too hot to be lying across Elphie anyway. Overheating would bring the threat of sweat. She would not be doing that, and whipped out a fan to further punctuate her thoughts.

"All hot and bothered are we, sweet?" tormented the green girl. Avid practise of using a fan made it quite easy to rap Elphie over the head with it then continue with her breeze making.

She was surveying the lake now, the water had cleared up since springtime, and reflected the blue of the sky. She quite enjoyed coming home for the summer, days spent lazily beside the lake, and others attending various social events. Granted, she would much rather take her tea and sit in the sun than meet up with old relatives who smelled either of mothballs or old flowers and could never recall her name without listing off half of the family tree. Still, she supposed they meant well.

Elphaba was watching her watching the water and thought that the feelings the blonde stirred up, those that had previously been locked so tightly away, they weren't so bad after all. She wondered if this was a scene that would play out again in later life, the two of them sitting together, in their own house. It was a delightful thought. Maybe it would just remain as that. The future was never a certain thing.

She leaned over and interlaced her fingers with the blonde's, who scooted her chair closer. Galinda raised their joined hands and peppered green knuckles with kisses. They sat that way for a while, enjoying the occasional breeze that filtered through the trees. Galinda looked into brown eyes, a cheeky smile playing on her face.

"Would you like to take a walk amongst the trees with me?" Elphie was certain she knew what that meant, and frankly, was terribly excited to follow those swaying hips. They had barely moved into a covered area when Elphaba had pinned Galinda to a tree, and two pale legs had clasped around her. It was just like that first time, but the nervousness had mostly dissipated. They had both grown rather addicted to these feelings.

The pair were too caught up in their ministrations to notice Ama Clutch standing a short while away, a pitcher of lemonade in her hands. A clearing of her throat caused the pair to attempt to disengage, albeit reluctantly.

"I brought some drinks for my duckies. Thirsty work, that." Gesturing to the pair of them. A mortified gasp from Galinda was the response "Don't deny it, your old Ama was in love once" Both girls halted at that.

Of course they were in love, it was obvious from the touches and glances, but those three words had not yet been verbalised, the moment never really seemed right. Utilising their old tactics, both swept it under the carpet, and accepted the glasses from Ama Clutch.

"Oh, I shall be coming back with you pair when you leave, I need a good catch up with the other Amas." and walked away, a slight limp the only remaining indication of that rusty nail.

Galinda fell back into green arms then, a sigh on her lips.

"We just cant have a moment without being interrupted can we?"

"All the more reason to keep trying" the green girl grinned, and gave her a few quick kisses. "Now, if you don't mind, I have to grant some attention to a beautiful little someone" The blonde blushed and smiled at this.

Her smile quickly turned into a scowl as Elphaba pulled out a book and stroked the cover rather lovingly. Was the mean thing trying to make her jealous of a book? Silently admitting to herself that it was working, she threw her fan at a green head. Beast.

The green girl picked up a petite hand an kissed it lovingly, before returning to her book. Galinda absorbing the sun next to her.

The majority of the week followed a similar pattern, eating with Galinda's parents when the sun began to fall, and spending daytimes wandering around together, It was also a lovely chance to watch Elphie actually have fun.

A few days after their arrival, Galinda had appeared around Elphaba's door frame.

"I found a note in my pocket this morning..." The blonde trailed off.

"Oh my, I'd forgotten about that" a slight blush had coloured her cheeks. She wasn't meant to be in the area when Galinda opened it. She rather felt like Boq with his incessant love notes all those months ago.

"It was lovely though, you didn't strike me as one to wax poetic, but my do I love the way you write. I think You're more thoughtful than you let on"

Elphaba sensed the conversation becoming thick. In her opinion, it was much too early for those sorts of things. Best sort that out.

"I could have an affinity for anything when it comes to you, my lovely"

"Miss Elphie, you terrible flirt"

She then removed herself from where she was leaning rather provocatively up the door frame to go and hunt down breakfast, only after admiring her note for a short moment longer.

* * *

The following day, the heatwave had gained intensity, and Elphie's dresses were becoming much too hot to wear. Galinda had absolutely _not_ used this as an opportunity to acquire a pair of men's shorts for Elphie to wear. Ever the non conformist, she was extremely excited to wear them. Only around the grounds of the house and near the river, when they went on their daily adventures, mind. Galinda found it quite concerning how well Elphie wore the shorts, a short sleeved blouse tucked into them. She found herself straddling Elphie more than once when they made an appearance.

On their last but one day, Galinda had decided to take Elphie into town with her. A shopping trip was needed, she had been kind enough to not drag the green thing out into the high society area, however, temptation had gotten the better of her.

They had hired a hansom cab, and Galinda had managed to remove the shorts from Elphie and wrestle her back into a dress earlier that morning. Upon leaving the cab, Elphaba was pulled between shops, various clothes for herself and Galinda were tried on and purchased.

She had even been kind enough to allow Elphie to roam through the men's department, though stopped the pile from growing too large. She had finished with another pair of shorts and one of trousers, added to the nice blouses Galinda had hunted down, it had been a rather successful shop.

She was then pulled through various crowds into a café. Galinda had noticed the twitching start to increase, so had decided to remedy the irritation with food. Elphie could always be placated with food. She had no clue how the green girl was so very slim, she always seemed to be picking at something or other.

Whilst shovelling food into her mouth, the green girl took time to admire their surroundings, their seats outside the café offered the best location to survey the area. The Gillikin was all it was advertised to be, and more. Shops lined each side of the cobbled street, beautiful, traditional buildings. Flowers of various colours spilled from plant pots at intervals. Everything was so very neat and uniform, even trees had been planted in equal distances from one another.

She believed the decoration of the town was an exact replication of the people. All so perfectly coiffed, each a clear representation of the exemplary Gillikin person. She was snapped out of her thoughts when Galinda had leaned across the table.

"Are you almost ready for round two?" Elphie had hoped that she meant round two of pastry, but she knew the blonde meant shopping. A nod was the response. "Look happy, and I may be inclined to make it worth your while" she finished with a wink. That was all the encouragement needed. The green girl was up with bags in her hand and one arm out for Galinda to take.

Four shops later, and several dresses for Galinda, she had still not been 'reimbursed' for her time. The bustling crowds were causing pointy elbows to rise, she was willing to use them as weapons if necessary. She was beginning to protest when Galinda had pulled her into a fifth shop. She was dragged to the back, where brown eyes focused on various dresses.

"These are quite complex, terribly pretty though. I might need some help trying them on" Elphaba was all too happy to help. Galinda had selected a few, then dragged Elphie into the fitting rooms. Halfway through changing, Elphaba could wait no longer and pushed Galinda against the wall, passionate kisses smothering any noises that escaped from the back of her throat. Maybe they would get to the fitting eventually.

Half an hour later a knock on the door startled Galinda from her attentions to green skin as a hand moved closer to Elphaba's backside.

"Do you require assistance?" came the voice

Elphaba's mouth was on Galinda's ear at the moment, nibbling. "I'd say you have all the assistance you need" she whispered.

"I'm quite alright thank you -" her voice had gone extremely high pitched just then, Elphaba's ministrations had moved to her neck had hit a particularly sensitive pulse point. She cleared her throat "-Fiddly laces, these, I shall get by though"

footsteps moving away allowed them to continue for another five minutes until the blonde moved from Elphaba's lap.

"As delightful as you are, I think we may have to return soon, before we have to start paying rent" Elphaba had to agree, they had been in there for quite a while.

The blushing pair emerged from the room, looking considerably more dishevelled than when they entered. Galinda had attempted to keep a neutral face, but the marks on her neck and the smirking green girl behind her gave the situation away immediately.

Whilst paying for her dresses, much to her disappointment, Pfannee and Shenshen had stepped through the door. Elphaba contemplated whether she would be able to fit in one of their many bags. It was either that or face an afternoon of gossip and snide remarks. They were spotted before Elphaba could get a foot in the bag. Galinda quickly swatted at a raised green leg.

"Galinda! We thought you said you wouldn't be visiting Gillikin?" Ah, a small white lie was all she had told. She wanted quality time with Elphie, not with two vultures stalking behind her.

"Yes, it was quite an unplanned visit, just a few days really, I haven't seen my parents in a while, best to say hello" Elphaba was close behind her, seeming to be in a staring competition with Shenshen.

"You simply must come and have tea with us, Shenshen has her sights on a lovely man for you". How terribly forward.

"Girls, as much as I adore your company, I have prior obligations, I cannot cancel at such short notice. We should go for tea when we return to Shiz though." They received a sniffed response, apparently the pair were not used to being rebuffed. Still, it had worked, and the pair were left to continue their walk back to the cab

"How scandalous! Miss Galinda, you filthy liar" Laughed Elphaba.

"Perhaps we could return then? I shall apologise and make up some tripe about cancellations and we can spend the afternoon with vultures. Although, I did have plans to continue our earlier escapades in the comfort of the flowers near the lake -" her hands had come to rest on Elphaba's waist now "- and you could wear those delicious shorts I've grown so fond of" This warranted a blush from Elphaba.

"Well, when you put it like that... I can think of nothing else I'd rather do"

That night, they followed through with their plan, as promised. They lay there after a while, knowing that they were getting closer. Elphaba had a feeling that before much longer, she would not be able to stop her actions, so slowed her kisses. Less desperate, but still so very wonderful. With a contented sigh, she lay her head on a blonde chest, one leg still wrapped around her.

"Thank you for coming with me, Elphie. I do appreciate you, you know, everything you do. You don't realise it, but I am so grateful for everything."

The green girl crawled up then, nose to nose. "And I cannot begin to express what you have done for me. Honestly, words wouldn't describe the warmth I feel with you close. You are the best thing that has ever sauntered into my life" she finished her point with a kiss on the smaller girls nose. Elphaba remained, winding blonde hair around her finger.

"And how long it took us to get here, I thought we may exist beside each other, nothing to move us closer to one another. How frightful that would have been" the blonde said.

"It would have been awful, though I imagine something would have brought us together eventually, Honestly, I don't know how much longer I could have held out" replied Elphie

"I'd hold out forever for you, for the rest of my life"

Elphaba did not know how to respond to this, so leaned down and gently pressed her lips to Galinda's, remaining there for a long while. It wasn't a passionate kiss, barely a brush of skin, but it seemed to convey what she was thinking. She believed that words could not follow such a heartfelt revelation. Upon pulling her lips away, she glanced down at the smaller girl.

"There are three words on the tip of my tongue at the moment, though I fear they may be terribly inappropriate" Galinda said.

"Then don't say them, not if you aren't ready. I know you're thinking them, just as much as I. Just always know, no matter what becomes of us, my heart belongs to you. Yours forever"

With the prickling of tears in her eyes and a terribly large smile, she pulled Elphaba down by her collar and kissed her to breathlessness.

She was lifted up after regaining her breath and Elphaba picked leaves out of her hair before sliding a Gillikin rose behind her ear and escorting her back to the house.

They were greeted on the back porch by Galinda's parents.

"Evening lovelies, Oh Galinda, you look happy! And such a beautiful flower. Come come, we have food"

That night they sat around the grand table, Galinda and Elphaba's hands firmly intertwined between the seats. The group had discussed what the pair would be up to in their next year, with promises of visiting Shiz sooner or later, its just work was terribly busy at the moment, they had explained.

Elphaba couldn't help but notice how alike they all were, a family unit. Perhaps she would have once wished for something like that, but with her situation, it wouldn't work so well. Perhaps the Arduenna family ran on the concept of 'distance makes the heart grow fonder', they certainly seemed very close, not in that claustrophobic way though.

They fell into light-hearted conversation then, before retiring for the night.

The next morning, bags were packed, and Ama Clutch was prepared for their journey back. The Arduenna parents had dropped the three of them at the station, tight hugs for both girls. Elphaba had realised that throughout her visit, they had almost remained distant, but had been nothing short of lovely to her. Leaning out of the window before the train departed to give her mother a final hug, Galinda gave her father a final wave.

"See you soon, love. Oh, and don't get into trouble -" her mother moved close then to whisper into her ear "-and make sure you're out of the view of any windows... or flowers for that matter, before you two decide to... osculate. Honestly, you nearly trampled my roses" Galinda's mouth had fallen open and Elphaba's eyes had bulged. Both parents laughed at the comedic effect of such facial expressions and waved as the train pulled away.

"What on earth just happened?" stuttered Elphaba. Galinda was still staring at the retreating platform.

"I do believe you just got their blessing" chortled Ama Clutch from beside her. And that was that.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello again! Terribly sorry for the late update, life got in the way. I shall be back to posting every Thursday now though (for our last two chapters.) Apologies and sprinkles for the delay! Reviews are very welcome! **

* * *

After arriving back at the campus, Elphaba was rather excited to sit down with her books. Galinda however, would not have this, practically bribing the green girl into unpacking her case.

Memories of the start of last term sprang to mind, Elphie had returned from Munchkinland after visiting her family. Galinda had watched, cringing occasionally as Elphaba had lived out of her suitcase for approximately three weeks until she and Nanny could stand it no longer, and set about washing and unpacking for her. For such an intelligent creature, Elphie's sense of self worth left a lot to be desired.

Galinda was certain that they would not have a repeat of this and so, in exchange for unpacked and neatly folded clothes, had promised an afternoon of alone time, whenever she chose. Elphie saw this as an opportunity she could not resist, for if she had decided to be stubborn and leave her suitcases to fester, Galinda would withhold her kisses. In her opinion, the risks were not worth the repercussions.

Naturally, Elphaba chose that very afternoon to have some 'alone time'. She had even donned the shorts that the blonde was so very very fond of. She knew how to get Galinda hot and bothered. The desired effect was achieved, as the blonde had re-entered the room and launched herself across the bed into waiting arms and wanting lips.

Hair was pulled as the two came closer, the blonde thoroughly enjoying the taste of those lips. It had been a good few hours since they'd had the chance to enjoy the feel of each other. The whole ordeal with Galinda's parents as the train pulled away had pushed _those_ thoughts away from both minds for a short while. A very short while. They had been on the train for less than an hour when Galinda felt a green hand on her thigh. Ama Clutch had drifted off opposite them. The whole situation was very inappropriate, but the way Elphie was staring at her glossed lips was encouragement enough to lean in and deliver a lasting kiss.

Now, she was lost in the feel of those spindly fingers tangled in her hair, revelling in each moan that escaped her lips. It was all really quite delightful. The blonde thought it even more delightful when Elphaba had rolled on top of her, supported by those skinny arms. Kisses became more wanting then.

She may or may not have hooked a leg around that thin waist to pull Elphie closer as the green girl moved to lean on her elbows. It was more comfortable this way, she believed. It also meant that she was that little bit closer to the blonde. She would be lying if she said there was no agenda here.

Galinda had dared to wrap a second leg around Elphie, and arms had circled around her back. The green girl had no chance of escaping even if she wanted to. She seemed quite content where she was though. Pale hands were running up and down Elphie's back, it seemed she couldn't decide whether she wanted to pull her closer by the neck, or move those hips closer to her own. She settled for rubbing circles. Elphie liked that. The contented sigh escaping her lips was testament to this.

The green girl then moved down to taste the skin of the pale girl's neck, a rather loud moan permeating the air. Galinda was clinging to her now, head turned to allow Elphie more skin to sample. She couldn't help but arch the slightest bit when the blonde had dragged her nails across her shoulder blades.

It made lovely friction between their hips, which both demanded to be felt again. She had rather huskily said the blonde's name then and dared to repeat the action a few more times, each becoming slightly more firm. Galinda was freely moaning now, and after Elphie's rocking actions had become rather intense, she had resolved to pull away and look into brown eyes. It seemed to be the best course of action - before they could no longer control themselves.

Nose to nose they were. It seemed that time had stopped again. There was a question in the air, though neither dared to ask it. Both seemed to be in a mental war. The silence was broken when Elphie had placed a quick kiss on Galinda's lips before leaning up.

"Not just yet, my love" She'd said. Galinda had looked at her quite stupidly then.

"What did you just call me?"

"My love. Because... I suppose that, well, I have fallen in love with you" she'd said it quite bluntly, but not without a hint of nervousness in her voice. Galinda's eyes had widened, and her eyes had looked to stare into brown. A few moments of silence had cut into the air until a large grin had appeared on the blonde's face.

Blinking slowly, with eyebrows drawn down, Elphaba had wondered if she had said the wrong thing. Apparently, she had not, as the blonde had pulled her in for a very firm hug.

Galinda pondered the concept of love before. Of course she had. It was what she'd spent afternoons doing as a small child. The questions that every young girl asked herself, "what would he look like?", "What dress would she wear on her wedding day". Galinda had reflected back on those ideas, the carefully thought through plans of childhood were being mentally burned. She couldn't have cared less.

It turned out that love was not something that could be planned or described. As a child, she had decided that her husband would simply _have_ to be tall, rich and with the classic Gillikin traits of blonde curly hair. He would woo her with flowers and it would be love at first sight. It had to be.

Looking at the green girl opposite her, she mentally laughed at her childhood self. The plan could not have been more wrong. Well, she was tall, but that was about as far as the similarities went. Galinda had found that she quite loved the exotic black hair of Elphie, and the fact that Elphaba was sarcastic.

Instead of flowers, she had been wooed with passive aggression and doors slammed in her face. At the time, it had been quite offensive, and she had not been wooed at all, but now, she considered it a necessary part of the development of their relationship. She tried to tell herself that it had shown character, but that would be deluding herself.

She pulled away from the embrace then, and Elphie had cupped her cheek, which she readily leaned into. Her hand was quickly snatched away when Nanny entered. She had no need, but still, reflexes and all that. Nanny had looked her up and down then, more than likely noticing the _very_ ruffled hair. She supposed she could blame those terrible winds that the train caused as it thundered down the tracks, though, that would be quite an awful excuse. She'd just leave Nanny to make her own conclusions, she was certain that she already had anyway.

Nanny clucked then, and had shuffled up to the pair. Both were enveloped into a hug, which was awkwardly returned. Nessa had wobbled in moments later, a quick greeting for the pair. She was still somewhat sniffy that Elphaba had left her at such short notice. She could not maintain the mood, as Elphaba had barrelled over and pulled her into a hug. The girl worshipped her sister. Galinda thought it quite lovely, and briefly considered what it would be like to have a sister. Being an only child had caused a very strong bond with her parents though, and she wouldn't dare risk that for the world.

"Doctor Dillamond had wanted to see you. He'd said something about a research project for the two of you"

Galinda watched as Elphaba's eyes lit up, the silly thing was really too excitable when it came to her cause. Nessa and Nanny had left the room again then, something about wanting to get to the canteen before it shut for the evening. Elphaba turned to the blonde, but before the question could be asked, the smaller girl had placed a finger in green lips, leaning up and replacing her finger with a quick brush of her lips.

"Go on, I'll be here when you get back" Elphaba responded by placing several kisses in quick succession on the blonde's lips before whisking out of the door. Galinda loved an impassioned Elphie, it made her feelings grow all the more strong. She had then decided to go and hunt down Nanny and Nessarose, maybe get Elphie some food for her return, goodness knows how long she would be.

* * *

It turned out that she would not have too long of a wait, after securing some food, and chatting about her journey with Nessa (only Nessa, because Nanny -in typical Nanny fashion- had completely shut down mid-conversation and pulled out her knitting. She supposed it would be rude if anyone else had done it, but since it was Nanny, these things were tolerated, lest risk a firm clip around the ear.) She had gone back to her room, readied herself for bed, then Elphie had re-appeared. She noticed a rather large grin decorating the green girls face.

Elphie had then sat down to tuck into her food, opposite her on the bed. She made a silent inquiry as to the grin. Apparently it had been a successful meeting, and Elphie had secured more hours of lab work. Dillamond was coming close to making a breakthrough, and required her assistance. The thrill of a potential link between humans and Animals, coupled with the honour of working with someone she looked up to was causing a very obvious excitement. It was a sight that Galinda adored.

"I'm afraid I shall be spending more time in the lab, and less time with you, though we are terribly close to a breakthrough, and I simply cannot dismiss the opportunity of assisting Doctor Dillamond, I hope you don't mind, my sweet." Galinda had noticed the way she was prattling a little bit, though the excitement had made it a lovely sight. She had shushed Elphie and told her to do what she was necessary. It wouldn't do to stand in the way of her dreams.

She would begin her work the day after next, so felt it was necessary to have a day of pampering Galinda. And so it was. Tomorrow, she would devote her day to the blonde. She scoffed down the rest of the sandwich that the blonde had bought her, before preparing for bed and crawling in next to her.

* * *

That next day, they had decided to take a walk down to the river just outside of the campus, the one where they had first acted upon those swirling feelings. It seemed only right. They had decided to climb the hill situated next to the water since it had an apple tree on top, which Elphie had decided would be the only tree that they could sit under, the picky thing. Upon reaching the tree, they had spread their blanket, and made themselves comfortable beneath it.

Their comfort lasted for all of twenty minutes, until a small, sour looking apple had rather forcefully come into contact with Elphaba's head. Turning to glare at the tree, she had noticed that the angle she had been hit – right in the temple, meant that the apple could not have possibly fallen from the branches above her.

She was made further curious by the fact that the apples above her were large and round. Galinda was watching from the green girl's lap, an amused smile on her face. Elphaba had turned to look to their left then, when another tiny apple had hit her square in the back of the head. Her eyes were darting around now, a scowl on her face, before hearing snickering from their right.

She had spun around quite quickly, a thousand poisonous words on the tip of her tongue. All comments died when Fiyero had appeared, hands held up in defeat.

"I apologise, but you two were looking much too comfortable" he had chortled. He hadn't managed to get any more words in before Elphaba had practically leaped from the floor and had begun to sprint towards him. Galinda knew first hand that the bandy, lanky thing could build quite an impressive speed at short notice. Fiyero had not anticipated this, and had managed to convince his feet to begin moving in the opposite direction as Elphaba made a swipe at him.

It seemed that they had entered a game of chase, Fiyero letting out panicked laughs as a grinning Elphaba drew ever closer. Galinda watched from underneath the tree, shouting encouragement for Elphie and heckling every few minutes. She really did enjoy it when Elphaba let her hair down.

She recalled the seemingly up-tight girl that had been registered as her room mate – begrudgingly that was. Imagine the sight of that Elphaba frolicking and giggling, it didn't seem possible. She decided that she much preferred this Elphie.

Smiling at the playing pair, her eyes had not registered that Elphaba was currently pinning Fiyero to the floor, his flailing form caught in a headlock. She released him with a triumphant cackle when he pleaded for mercy, standing and posing with one foot on his back, for the benefit of Galinda, of course, who had managed to snap out of her day dreaming and was clapping for Elphie.

"Next time I shall not be such a gentleman" he had wheezed when Elphaba clapped him on the back before turning her attentions to a laughing Galinda. It seemed that Elphie had not managed to burn off all of her excess energy and was currently pointing at the blonde, one finger beckoning her forwards. The blonde had stood slowly then, and Elphie had stalked closer. Galinda rather thought she resembled a jungle cat, or Cat. A wicked yet playful smirk had appeared on her face, and the blonde had taken a tentative step backwards.

She was being chased. It was a quite thrilling experience, panting as she felt Elphaba nearing her with each step. Before she knew what had happened, she had been caught up again, and found herself on her back, with Elphaba above her and wrapped around her. The world seemed to shift then, Elphaba's face being the only thing remaining upright, a look of glee very much apparent. It had taken a few moments for her to realise that they were rolling. Rolling very quickly down the hill. Still, Elphie seemed to be finding the situation hilarious and was cackling with every spin.

She had managed to throw an arm out after a few seconds, slowing their rolling until they had come to a complete standstill. She was quite certain that her dress would have unsightly grass stains all over it, though with Elphie below her, still laughing, she didn't feel the need to lodge a complaint.

Elphaba's head had just stopped spinning when pink lips had come into contact with her own, only briefly though. This was something that she was about to complain about until Galinda had made her head spin in a completely different way. A way that had made a silly grin appear on her face. Three little words, amongst others, so seemingly simple had just made her heart swell.

"Why, Miss Elphie, I quite think I love you" she had breathed. And Elphaba had responded with a disbelieving laugh before nudging their noses together.

"Well, it is a very good job that I return the sentiment" She was staring at those glossed lips as she had replied, uncertain of what to do next. Thankfully, the blonde was still very much alert, and had leaned down, body flush against Elphie's as they engaged in a very passionate kiss until another small apple had been launched in their direction.

"Please, ladies, control yourselves, or you may have a very rapt audience in a few moments." Fiyero had shouted to the pair, who had managed to remove their lips, yet Galinda remained on top of Elphie. She still had not moved when Crope and Tibbett had appeared over the horizon.

"My, you two are looking comfortable" Tibbett had exclaimed, before Crope added his own observations.

"That may be, but I can't imagine Elphie making a very good cushion, all pokes and bones"

Elphaba had scowled at this before Galinda had run her hands over her ribs. "I am certain that Elphie is very comfortable, actually. You shall have to take my word though, I do not think she would appreciate-" she had not managed to finish her sentence as Crope and Tibbett had seen it necessary to test Galinda's explanations, jumping onto the pair. This made a large pile of limbs, with a green arm flapping from the bottom. What could they say? They were very hands on men.

They both rolled away when Elphaba had all but screeched for them to move themselves. The threat of a very pointy shoe in a very delicate area was quite enough encouragement for a speedy removal. Galinda was allowed to remain, as per.

According to their refusal to move, they had moved camp, Crope running to fetch their blanket from underneath the tree. When he returned, Galinda lifted herself from green arms, then reacquainted herself with Elphie by sitting in her lap, on top of crossed legs on the blanket.

"I need a distraction to pass the time whilst we wait for his Lordship and Peaches" Crope had announced. He had given both Avaric and Boq nicknames which made both rather upset. Avaric's nickname of his Lordship was rather self explanatory, though Boq's nickname had taken some careful thought. They had decided on Peaches when admiring him from afar, and had decided that he had rather 'peachy assets' as they called it. They would have to grin and bear it. He had just set out to hunt down some entertainment when the pair appeared, fashionably late of course.

Galinda had noticed that Elphie was becoming quite twitchy, she had wanted a day alone with the blonde. More company resulted in more twitching. She had noticed that the grip around her waist had tightened slightly, and she was pulled closer to the body behind her.

Elphie had then attempted to relieve her bad mood by whispering sweet nothings into the blonde's ear, which was causing a blush to make itself apparent. The blush was noticed first by Boq, who smiled at the pair, shuffling closer to make conversation, rather than dealing with the flirtatious advances of Crope and Tibbett.

"Have you managed to find Dillamond? He had wanted to speak with you" he had said to Elphie, who was absent mindedly playing with blonde hair.

"Hmm, we have some big work coming up soon. A potential breakthrough!". He found Elphaba's enthusiasm quite contagious. Her impassioned frenzies had encouraged him to begin to read up on the subject himself, becoming exceedingly interested in her cause. He had dreams of helping with a revolution of sorts one day.

"If you ever require any assistance, I'd be more than happy to help. I've a few books that you could borrow If you like" Elphie had quirked a brow at this, and gave her thanks. Apparently, the attention from Boq was something that she was somewhat unaccustomed to, and didn't know how to respond too well. She glanced down at the blonde in her lap.

"Perhaps we should get going, Nanny will be expecting us" she said. Honestly, Nanny didn't mind where they were, but Elphie had obviously grown tired with the present company and wanted the blonde to herself. The pair stood up and walked away hand in hand.

"Have those two kissed yet?" came Avaric's voice from behind them, which was soon cut short by the appearance of an apple hurtling towards his head. It was quite amazing where Fiyero was pulling them all from.

Upon returning to their room, Elphaba had huffed and stomped around for a little while, throwing things into her satchel. Galinda watched the great and dramatic performance from the green girl's bed, slightly amused, balanced equally with a measure of concern.

"Elphie, love, what on earth are you doing?"

"I am taking my things and am going to live in the library, at least there I know I shall not have an entourage. You are more than welcome to come with me, my pretty. Perhaps we can have some alone time in there" she had said with a suggestive grin.

"Oh, Elphie, no need for such drama! I think that this room is quite lovely enough, besides, I was rather hoping that you would pull an extraordinarily romantic move and woo me with some piffle about how I am your sunshine, then you could proceed by making me very aware of that fact on this bed" she finished her thoughts by patting the bed she was sitting on. Elphaba couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the forwardness of Galinda today, though she found she quite liked it.

"Nessa and Nanny are out" she finished, Elphaba seemed to be debating, so she had added that little fact in there as the selling point. Evidently it had worked, as the satchel was launched onto her desk and the green girl was standing directly in front of the little blonde. She had picked up a blonde curl and was currently winding it around her fingers.

"Must I really woo you with poetry, I work better with some thinking time, love. Perhaps if you would allo- hmmpf" her words were cut off as the blonde's mouth had collided with her own. She wasn't too bothered about finishing her sentence anyway. She was unceremoniously pulled to the bed, on top of Galinda, who had just opened her mouth to the green girl as their tongues met. Pale hands had taken the liberty of tangling in dark locks, pulling the green girl closer until she lay flush against the blonde.

She only lifted up slightly when Galinda's panting had sent a new wave of desire down her spine, and she had begun to open the buttons on the blondes blouse. She made her way down the slope of a pale neck and had begun to taste the skin usually hidden. Her tongue traced a collarbone as Galinda let out a delighted sigh.

Each button revealed more skin to Elphaba, who was more than happy to lavish it with her attentions. Her journey was cut short when she had met the blondes under-things. She had no clue as to why she found it necessary to wear a chemise or corset or camisole, but still, she wasn't in too much of a thinking mood at the moment and so decided to continue to work with what she had.

Galinda felt in absolute euphoria with Elphie descending down her chest. She did not believe that such feelings could be heightened until she felt the drag of a finger move up her leg, and onto her thigh, making small patterns. She believed that those green fingers would drive her to insanity before much longer. A loud whimper was the encouragement she provided for Elphie, who was currently back and suckling on the skin of her clavicle.

Another moan permeated the air as their room door was opened. An oblivious Elphaba continued her ministrations as Galinda had noticed their unwelcome guest and had begun to wiggle away, attempting to cover her unbuttoned self. Elphie had given chase across the bed, believing they were engaging in a game of chase, and attempting to steal kisses from the blonde.

Evidently, she had not noticed Nessarose at the door, mouth hanging quite open at the sight of her sister on top of the blonde. At least Nanny hadn't been behind her, Nessa had learned that any door could be opened with a good shove of her hip and some manoeuvring. She only stopped her flirting after she had heard the door slam shut and saw Galinda's wide eyes.

"Who was that?!" she had almost shrieked. Her heart was beating rather quickly now.

Galinda managed to choke out the response of "Nessa" before Elphie had bolted up and was pacing the room, fists clenched.

"Oh my, Oh my. Galinda, what shall I do. You know how she feels about this. Goodness, the whole university knows how she feels about this, she practically preaches every day. She's going to hate me" Galinda had walked up to her and ceased her pacing with a firm hug.

"You need to explain to her, just tell her what you feel" The blonde was quite comforting when she wanted to be. She had smoothed down Elphie's hair then, and reshuffled her own clothing. "I'll give you two some alone time, I shall wait in here, but please call if you need a hand"

She had pressed a kiss to green lips then, hoping to depart some courage onto Elphie, who was fiddling with her fingers, popping them and twisting them against one another. A pale had gave her own a squeeze before giving her a nudge in the direction of Nessa's room.

Elphaba approached cautiously. Nessa was currently sitting with her bible in front of her, Nanny sitting nearby with her knitting, occasionally turning the pages for her when she received a nod. She looked up and gave a smile to the green girl, whilst Nessa remained fixated on her book, and had apparently not noticed Elphaba's entrance.

"Nessie?" she was ignored, and so tried again, slightly louder this time. The smaller girl looked up from her book, though did not meet her sister's gaze.

"Elphaba. How have you been, I've not yet seen you today" came the very formal response. The green girl was rather confused at this, she had expected in the least to have been screamed at or walloped with a bible by now. She was fairly confident that Nessa _had_ seen her today.

"Nanny, might we have a few moments alone? Perhaps you could get us some food from the canteen" Elphaba had said. She needed to discuss this with her sister.

Once Nanny's old self had shuffled out the door, not without a great deal of complaining, Elphaba had turned to Nessarose.

"I'm sorry you had to see that Nessie, I had intended for you to find out in a different way"

"Find out what, Elphaba? I'm certain I don't know what you're talking about."

She was thoroughly confused now. And moved to sit on the bed next to Nessa, who flinched away.

"Galinda and I. We... I... we are in love." There it was. Best to get it over and done with quickly. Nessarose did not feel prepared for this news.

She had seen it in the glances, and had just seen it in a much more physical sense, but hoped that perhaps it was just a stage. University experimentation and all that. She did not wish to discuss these things, but also did not wish to hurt her sister. Elphaba had hurt her heart, though to do the same in return would not be the unionist thing to do.

She swallowed thickly then, a sound which had cut through the silence. Elphaba had leaned over, one hand covering her own. She quickly pulled her fingers away. Tears were threatening to spill, which did not go unnoticed by Elphaba.

"Well, you have my blessing, and I... I think you should leave." This was not the response Elphaba was expecting. The tears were falling down her pink face now and Elphaba attempted to move closer and brush them away.

"Leave! Please! Elphaba, I love you, but I need time to think about this" she had turned her head then, allowing the tears to freely fall. She fell on her side as the door was gently pulled shut.

Galinda was back on the bed when she had returned, an encouraging smile for Elphie on her face.

"How did it go?" she had asked. Her question was answered by the shake of a head and slumped shoulders. The blonde was quick to pull Elphie into a hug, soothing words being whispered into her ear.

"Give her some time, we can both speak to her later. It'll be fine Elphie, you'll see." the green girl responded by pulling the blonde closer and kissing the top of her head. It was quite a dilemma to be facing, though perhaps with some carefully thought through words, all would be fine.

Elphaba had flopped back down onto her bed then, Galinda following close behind. Surely something that felt so perfect could not be wrong. Ideally, Nessa would have been up front with her feelings, but Elphaba knew that so much was left unsaid. The spilling tears were enough to show that.

She must have nodded off with the small blonde's head on her stomach, as when she had next moved, the sun was casting its final glow into their window. Small puffs of breath meant that Galinda was still asleep. She hadn't the heart to move her, and so lay back playing with blonde curls.

Nessa had quietly entered the room a few moments later, noticing the scene playing out in front of her. She thanked the unnamed God that the pair were not engaged in more physical activities. Galinda had stirred slightly at the click of the door, looking up and smiling at Nessa.

The armless girl took in the scene in front of her, both girls looked so content and happy. It had caused a challenge for her. Teachings of their father had not condoned such behaviour, yet the pair in front of her looked so devoted, like nothing could tear them apart. A calmness had settled over the room as both pairs of eyes had focused on her.

"Might I have a word?" she needn't have asked as Elphaba was already up, guiding her to Galinda's bed, opposite them both. The green girl the sat next to Galinda, who intertwined their hands. Nessa had glanced down to the clutching hands. Perhaps she had wanted to grimace, but Elphaba had noticed little reaction, just passing interest.

"I have taken some time to think, and I have only one question. Why?" Elphaba had appeared deep in thought at the question, whilst Galinda had inhaled in preparation for an explanation.

"Honestly, I couldn't begin to tell you. Its an odd feeling, although there are a thousand butterflies in my stomach whenever she so much as glances at me. There's a feeling that I would do just anything simply for the pleasure of one of those genuine smiles that cracks that scowl in half. Nessa, I wish I could put into words the giddiness that your sister makes me feel, but most of all, she makes me feel brave. Like I could do anything that others have told me I couldn't". She was blushing now. An endearing glow that had begun in her ears at the start of the speech and had tinged her whole face by the end.

Nessa had taken the information in with a nod, before looking to her sister for any further additions. She only noticed the look that was being shared between the two. It caused all of the repulsion to leave her body. She too wished for a man to look at her in the way the two were looking at each other. Elphaba had lifted their joined hands and deposited a kiss onto the blonde's knuckles.

"I understand. Love is a tricky thing, and I'm certain that you two have something strong. I thought I had noticed a slight spring in your step recently, Fabala"

"I shall have you know Nessie, that I do not spring, I stride" she was giving a small smile now, Nessa's tone hinting at normality.

"Well, yes, that is quite true. Still, I'd like to thank you for telling me, even though the initial realisation wasn't the gentle revelation that I may have liked. It might take me a small while to adjust, but bear with me. I shall see you tomorrow, for lunch I hope?" Elphaba had already nodded and was guiding her through the door with one hand, before depositing a kiss on her forehead.

The green girl then had turned to the blonde sat on her bed and flopped down face first next to her.

"I hadn't realised that all of this love business required so much explaining" she'd said through the pillow.

"Well, I suppose we're quite the unlikely pair aren't we?" the blonde had laughed as Elphie had rolled to look up at her.

"Hmm, but my am I glad" she'd pushed her nose against Galinda's now, who was struggling to lean in for a kiss. "Do I really make you giddy?" the beast was smirking at her. Evidently, Galinda was still quite embarrassed about the whole speech. A blush had coloured her cheeks.

"Yes, I suppose. Though I'm not one hundred percent sure. Perhaps you should kiss me, really test how giddy you can make me"

A compliant Elphaba readily accepted the challenge.


	8. Chapter 8

It turned out that Elphaba was rather adept at making Galinda giddy, and had proved it to the blonde after she had requested, and several times since. Returning to the lab may have at first been quite a sad idea for Galinda, though now that Elphie had been back working for just over a week, she was quite grateful for the new lease of life Elphie had taken on. If she thought the girl was passionate before, this would have been something completely different. Elphie's kisses were full of a new passion, like she was collecting feelings from her work and delivering them directly to Galinda's lips. It was perfect.

She had just released Elphie's arms from above her head from where she had pinned them to the pillow, before snuggling down into lanky arms. Elphie had become much more attentive since taking her position amongst the life sciences department, believing it necessary to pay for her prolonged absence with a myriad of kisses when she returned each evening. Galinda had to admit that she really did like the sight of Elphie in her lab coat.

"We don't have much free time left now, do we?" Galinda asked "What with the new term approaching, soon we shall both be buried in our books again, not much time left for this sort of thing"

"Oh, I shall always find time for you, my lovely" Elphaba whispered into her hair. They could not have been closer to one another if they tried, though Galinda found that she rather liked the way Elphie's bones would occasionally poke, it's what added to her Elphie-ness.

In truth, they had two weeks left until the new term would be upon them, and the demand of coursework would take up a large proportion of daily life. They were, after all entering their third year of university.

Galinda had taken some time in the library – much to the horror of Pfannee and Shenshen – to browse through the architecture section, weigh up her options for a potential change of course, or maybe just to get some extra lessons on the topic. More often than not, a degree meant little to the outcome of a job in later life, though sorcery would be quite useful in any situation she reasoned.

It seemed that Elphaba had developed the ability to read minds, which was rather disturbing, yet something that Galinda would not put it past the green girl, especially when she was in one of her brooding moods. She had taken that moment to look down

"Any thoughts on architecture for next year?"

"I don't know, I believe it may be slightly too late to try and enrol for a degree in it. Perhaps you would come with me to Morrible if you have a spare few moments some time this week? Discuss my options and all that"

At this, Elphaba had let out a delighted smile and had nuzzled down into blonde hair, waiting for those puffs of air to deepen and for sleep to claim her too.

* * *

The next morning, Elphie had disappeared quite quickly through the door. Running late was not something she was accustomed to, though with a sleeping Galinda on her chest, she may have toyed with the idea slightly. That was how she knew that the blonde was special to her, she was beginning to rival her love for Animals. Well, she had for a long while now, but still.

Galinda had awoken when Elphie had carefully lay her head back down onto the pillow, then attempted to put on a shoe, whilst brushing her teeth with the other hand and somehow attempting to shimmy a skirt up her legs. As one could imagine, it ended with Elphaba on the floor, backside in the air with the shoe on the opposite side of the room.

Galinda had seen it necessary to intervene then, and had stood to fetch the disorderly shoe.

"Silly thing, slow down! Dillamond wont mind." She was pulling Elphie up now, and had fastened her skirt whilst the green girl continued with her frantic brushing. Once properly dressed with a fresh mouth, she had headed towards the door. She did not get far before Galinda had appeared and pulled her down, forehead to forehead.

"Have you eaten yet this morning?" She asked. Elphie loved her food, though without frequent reminders, would likely go for a very long while without, especially when her mind was otherwise engaged. Elphaba had shook her head as the blonde had taken her hand and placed a few coins into her palm.

"Buy yourself something on the way, I shan't have you getting any thinner" she tickled Elphie's ribs as she said this, which earned a chortle. Elphaba then leant down for a kiss before fleeing for the door. Galinda could hear the thud of eager feet as she practically skipped down the hallway.

She spent that afternoon with Pfannee and Shenshen, after spending more time reading up on architecture of course. They met for tea, as promised in one of the little cafés just outside of the campus.

The pair had appeared, giggling and coated in somewhat impractical outfits considering they were just visiting a run down coffee shop. Galinda thought they looked as though they were about to attend a theatre production. She was tempted to mention how terribly bright they looked, less of Lurlinemas decorations and more like the tree that was decorated. She'd have to remember that one for Elphie later, she'd like that.

They took their seats in a quiet corner of the café and both girls immediately launched an inquest into Galinda's holiday and why she had dared enter the public domain wrapped around the arm of a cabbage no less.

The blonde immediately put a stop to increasingly vulgar comments regarding her- her what? She wasn't certain. They had professed their love for one another, though discussion of their relation to one another had not yet been broached. Both were much too concerned with the potential awkwardness that speaking about that particular topic may cause.

She pulled herself away from her musings to look at the two vultures opposite her, both were looking slightly surprised at Galinda's quick refusal to engage in a good slinging session about the green girl. She'd been like that quite a lot recently, becoming distant and quite snappy when they dared to insult the human asparagus. They had told Galinda this and received a rather snippy reply.

"I do believe we came to discuss our lives, not that of my room mate, and I shall not tolerate any further ill speak, so if you would please continue with your fashion drivel and what not, I would be most grateful. Thank you" This had silenced any further remarks, and both kept quite quiet. They still saw Galinda as their leader, despite the rather large drift forming in their friendship, and so were willing to follow her instructions.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in relatively good natured discussion, of course, it had been slightly tense at first, though soon they fell back onto their usual dynamics. Galinda was still mentally distant, it was the fact that she had realised what selfish people they were. They still had much growing up to do. All was well until the conversation turned onto boys and the latest escapades of Pfannee and Shenshen. They had rather excitably spoke of the boys they had attracted, not without hushed giggles, and rather a lot of fan flicking.

Their attentions had then turned to Galinda. She had always been more reserved when it came to boys, her mother was rather strict about reputations, which she mirrored quite well. They had attempted to set her up with various boys, though she found that her standards were much too high. She should quite like a man who actually spoke to her like a woman. She had developed a bit of a crush on one of the boys in her first year, he had been lovely and such a gentleman, though she felt something missing.

He had kissed her a few times, though Galinda felt no spark. Compared to her first kiss with Elphie, things were very very different. Her heart still skipped a beat thinking about it now. It was really something that would be stamped onto her mind for the rest of her days.

She had quite expertly deflected the conversation away from herself, she'd had practice with that. She'd found that it was particularly easy with these two, just pay a complement to their hair and they'd be too busy fussing over that, the previous topic completely forgotten. She'd become quite the expert deflector.

After their pot of tea had been drained, the pair stayed for a few moments longer before disappearing in a brightly coloured whirl, promises of "doing this again sometime" spilled from their lips as they left. Galinda had purchased two pastries and some iced tea before disappearing to find Elphie, she should be finished before much longer.

She arrived at the lab just as Elphie was leaving, a large smile on her face. Something good must have happened. She looked up and noticed the blonde walking towards her, it took her a few moments, but recognition finally clicked in and her smile grew all the more. She increased her pace towards the blonde and caught her up in a tight hug.

"Hello my lovely!" she'd said, to which Galinda responded with a smile.

"Good afternoon, Elphie. It seems someone is having a wonderful day" Elphaba took her arm then, and began to lead her to the side of suicide canal, towards the benches as she told Galinda of what had happened that day. Apparently, Dillamond was certain that a breakthrough was imminent, and Elphie was getting extremely enthusiastic about that fact. Galinda had to skip every now and then to keep up with the fast pace an excitable Elphie had set. She only slowed down when the threat of dropping the pastries had increased.

Sitting down with their food and drink, Elphie glanced around before leaning in and pressing a very quick, very chaste kiss on Galinda's lips, in thanks for the pastries presumably. The blonde turned rather red at this, letting out a giggle and looking around to ensure that no one had noticed. Elphie was getting rather daring with her flirtation in public. Apparently the coast was clear and Elphie was ever so happy for that fact.

They took a slow walk to Morrible's office after their food had been demolished, and tea had been drained. Elphaba was rather opinionated when it came to iced tea, apparently it was a meek shadow in comparison to the real thing. She believed that tea should be served hot. Scolding hot. Galinda found it rather shocking when she drank her tea, so hot that she was certain her throat would burn. Perhaps Elphie worked in reverse, maybe she could not be burnt by hot liquids, only water. Though that would be ridiculous. It was another great mystery of the mighty Elphie.

Upon reaching the office, they both noticed Nessa standing outside, Nanny fussing around her and Morrible saying something that was not calming Nanny down at all. Elphaba had grown rather concerned at the scene, and had rushed to Nessa's side, a thousand worries cramming into her head at once. She had attempted to ask how Nessa was when she was immediately cut off by Morrible.

"Oh, Miss Elphaba, Miss Galinda, I had expected to see you today. Now you're all here, do come in, come in." Nanny had attempted to shuffle after them, but received a glare from Morrible and a sharp "wait outside". She reluctantly complied after shouting and causing a bit of a scene as Morrible placed a fat hand on Elphaba's back and pushed her through the door.

"Madame, I should quite like to speak with you about the possibility of transferring my course to Architecture for the next year. I know I have left it terribly late thoug-" She hadn't got any further before Morrible had shushed her with a flick of the wrist.

"Nonsense my dear, that's a male subject. A pretty thing like you shouldn't want that for herself" Galinda had set her jaw at this and narrowed her eyes. Elphie had covertly covered her hand with her own. A silent show of support.

"How are things with Doctor Dillamond, Miss Elphaba?" Elphaba had started at this. The whole operation was supposed to be unheard of. A secret mission for the pair of them. She turned her attention to Grommetick in the doorway and glared.

"I'm not certain, you see, term finished several weeks ago, which, as I'm sure you're aware, means that I am free from educational obligations, though I do still dabble in my books." Morrible had glared at her then.

"Oh, well then Miss Elphaba, I shall have to send Grommetick down to check on him sometime. He is really getting much too big for his own boots. Animals shouldn't be in academia anymore. Lower quality standards. Quite disgusting that they're still teaching really." She'd practically spat that last bit and Elphaba had risen from her chair, fists clenched.

"Oh do sit down. Such drama. Besides, I have called you all here today to make a proposal, not to discuss such meaningless nonsense. Now, do note that before I begin speaking that you shall not speak of this outside these walls. I have placed you in a binding cocoon, and should you attempt to utter a word, the repercussions would be most unsavoury. Do heed my warning."

She'd inhaled for breath before continuing, sending a puff of overpowering floral perfume into their faces. "Now, I expect that you will obey me. I have been set with a task which requires my best judgement skills. The wizard is a powerful figurehead, though as you can imagine, his power and decision making skills are somewhat flawed. A masculine leader is not something we need, times of change are upon us, and I must select those with the most potential to continue with this role. I have envisioned, you see, three adepts for each country. Galinda – the Gillikin, Elphaba - Muchkinland, and dear Nessarose - Quadling country. The Vinkus isn't too much of a bother, too undeveloped. Do not try to ignore this, I will have my way. You have much too much potential to go to waste"

All Girls were staring at her now. Galinda seemed to be deep in thought. Pondering If this cocoon was a real thing. She felt no different. Nessa was looking torn between either glee or sheer terror, it wasn't really certain. Stoic Elphie had taken that moment to kick out her pointy shoe and send a pot of tea flying off the table. It landed with a smash and a clatter. Galinda looked to her left and saw a smug smirk on Elphie's face. The mess would take a long while to clean up. The giant carp had rolled her eyes then.

"Right, I'll pretend that didn't happen. How terribly childish. I shall give you a short while to think about it, though I shall not be taking no for an answer. You may leave now"

they had all got up and left then, not a further word said between them all.

Nanny was waiting outside, flapping and flitting around Nessa, all three looked quite shell-shocked. When Nanny inquired as to their unusual demeanour, the girls simply brushed it off with a quick excuse of extra classes or something. Obviously they were not very good liars. Old Nanny would get it out of them sooner or later.

Stepping back out into the fresh air had blown away the cobwebs from Morrible's stuffy room, though more feelings came to light. Galinda felt clarity. Clarity mixed in with a deep set sense of dread. In her minds eye she saw a carriage, a city of emeralds and a future of upset and wealth. She felt as though Morrible had singled her out and told her of ruling Oz, doting citizens at her feet and a loving man at home. She did not want that.

Elphaba had also felt these feelings. Something slightly different for her though, a loneliness. A deep guilt that haunted her. She saw Galinda standing next to her, though the scenery seemed to shift. They were no longer on the cobbled streets of Shiz, but in a darkened room, rain fell from the ceiling and a flaming skeleton stood opposite them. The whole scenario didn't make any sense. She looked then as the Skeleton had asked Galinda her plans for the future, who'd responded with the simple fact that she'd be getting married to a lovely man her parents would approve of. Elphaba felt sick.

Evidently, something had caused a similar affect for Galinda, as at that moment, Elphaba had come to, and Galinda had sagged against her as Nessa had fallen onto Nanny. She'd caught the blonde up in her arms, and blue eyes opened once again. She looked as though something had been awoken, bottom lip drawn into her mouth as her eyes fixated on Elphie's.

Nanny was fussing with Nessa and huffing something about tight footwear as Galinda had leaned up and whispered something very uncharacteristic into a green ear, which almost caused Elphaba to stumble and drop the blonde. Almost.

She'd managed to collect herself in time to place Galinda back down onto the floor. Nanny was still flitting around Nessa and Galinda had turned to the pair, she'd grabbed Elphaba's hand.

"Nanny, we must run. I am not feeling well." Elphaba noticed that her voice sounded very odd. Very husky. It made something twitch in her stomach. She was quickly dragged through the campus, Galinda pushing her against trees and alcoves when the coast was clear and rather viciously kissing her. There was a desperate need there, not like their first kiss. This felt like a cry for encouragement. A need to prove her love. She'd thrown Elphaba through the door when they'd arrived at their room, the lock clicked behind her.

Elphaba was in a lustful daze and noticed the blonde tearing at her blouse. It was quickly thrown over her head as Galinda threw off her own dress before pushing Elphie against the door with her body. She'd decided that today was the day she would go without her corset, and my was Elphaba glad. Skin on skin contact had most definitely not lost its novelty and both girls could not help the moan that ripped forwards. Galinda had all but growled. She seemed possessed by a need to touch Elphaba.

The blonde then tugged off Elphaba's skirt and pushed their lips together. The kiss was bruising and absolutely addicting. She continued to administer them as she pulled Elphaba to the bed, and straddled bare green legs. She felt those green hands creeping up her back and ripped off the final layer of clothing on herself, save from her knickers. Brown eyes bulged at the sight before her and Galinda had moved closer, pushing her bare form against Elphaba's, still protected by her under-shirt.

Elphaba had felt those lips move onto her neck, before becoming completely still. Galinda was shaking now, gripping at her shirt. The sudden change of pace was extremely concerning for Elphaba, who had pulled Galinda closer by encircling her arms around her back.

"What's wrong, love?" The silence that met her was doing nothing to quell her mounting concern.

"Please, tell me what's wrong"

"Don't leave me. Please don't ever ever leave me" The blonde had choked out, something akin to a sob, though no tears fell. The feelings from earlier resurfaced. That projected future of the man's arm around her shoulders as she gazed into the crowds of the emerald city. She knew what, or who she was looking for. An emptiness had filled her stomach. Elphaba was nowhere in sight.

"I could never. Please, don't even suggest it. Nothing could keep me from you, I'd cross the fabled deserts if I had to. Do not doubt my love for you, please don't"

That seemed to be encouragement enough, and Elphaba had not released her vice like grip on the blonde. She'd stopped shaking now, but there was still a feeling of uncertainty lingering around them. She leant in and kissed her, different this time, sweet and soft.

She moved away then, rummaging in the blondes draws before pulling out a nightgown.

"Come now, we shall prepare for bed. It's been a long day for both of us." They did just that, in relative silence, the omens of earlier that day existing as a spectre in the room. Elphaba had climbed into bed after the blonde, arms quick to wrap around her.

"Suppose she was telling the truth earlier, do you believe?" Galinda had asked. Elphaba had shook her head. They were broaching that forbidden topic, though she didn't feel ill or any different.

"No, don't worry. We shall work through this together. Tomorrow brings a new day, and I'm sure after some rest, we shall be fine. I have a free day tomorrow, so I shall be sure to spend it with you."

* * *

Elphaba had followed through with her promise that next day, and had gone with the blonde to the ponds around Shiz. Evidently, Elphaba's expectations had been fulfilled, feelings of fear had moved away. The blonde felt certain now. She wanted to spend the rest of her days with Elphaba, and was certain that nothing would come between them.

Looking at the girl sitting next to her as she watched the fish, a sudden urge took over her, and for the first time in public, without copious checking and hesitation, she'd leant in to kiss the lovely green thing. Elphaba had been quick to deepen it, after getting over her initial surprise. Tongues brushed as she pulled the blonde on top of her. Straddling the skinny green thing, she was completely lost in the feel of those lips. They were relatively well hidden, amongst the bushes next to the lake. It would take great eyesight to observe such an odd sight.

Clearly, Galinda had not done a thorough scout of their bush coverage as she had suspected, and had failed to note the rather large gap where a frozen Boq now stood. She'd broken away from the green lips and pressed her forehead to the green girls trying to regain stolen breath as her eyes caught sight of the surprised Munchkin.

"Oh good grief!" he'd spluttered when eye contact was made. Crope and Tibbett were quick to appear at Boq's exclamation, taking in the sight in front of them. Galinda was still straddling Elphie, who was flat on her back.

The spell was broken by Tibbett's harsh laugh.

"About bloody time, you two."

Galinda rolled off then, and Elphie leapt up, offering a hand out for Galinda, who wrapped her arm through Elphie's. Boq still hadn't spoken. He wasn't too sure what to say. He chose to sputter again then. Crope and Tibbett jumped to add their observations.

"Oh surely you knew, Boqqykins"

" Yes, these two aren't half as subtle as they think they are, the staring was one thing, but I think I became certain when the blushing became much too frequent. Or those interlaced fingers."

Boq had let out a laugh then.

"My god, I'm an oblivious bugger. Well done you two!" he'd chortled. The crush was well and truly over now. Elphaba was looking at them, eyebrows down, waiting for a negative reaction. Nothing came forward.

"I suppose I don't have a chance now then do I?" Crope had said to Galinda, tossing his hair. Tibbett had spun around to him, before chasing him across the grass. The blonde was blushing profusely, so Elphaba had thrown an arm around her shoulders.

"Well Boq, today had been a wonderful one for revelations, though if you don't mind, I think I shall take this lovely thing to get some food"

"Oh, how nice. Wine and dine your lady. Treat her right, Elphie" Boq replied. He knew that last part was not necessary, anyone who had been near the pair knew of Elphaba's severe protectiveness when it came to the blonde. Still, the sentiment was appreciated, and Elphaba pecked pink lips once more before leading her away.

"Oh, what a surprise. Should I change? I hadn't expected to be going out" The blonde had said after Boq had taken chase after Crope and Tibbett. Elphaba had simply looked at her shaking her head.

"You always look beautiful to me." And that was enough to prompt another blush. She'd expected this to be calming down now, but Elphie's charm and affection seemed to have a long-standing affect.

Elphaba had taken her that evening to a small Gillikinese Café on the outskirts of town, treating her to anything she desired on the menu. They returned back to their room when dusk had begun to settle.

Elphie was engaging Galinda in a tickle fight, pinning her to the bed when Nessa had entered. She gave the engrossed pair a small smile before bidding them goodnight. The evening had moved on with the pair lazing around one another. Negative emotions that had surfaced yesterday seemed to have been hidden, or disappeared, though Galinda still felt a slight sense of foreboding pass through her. The majority of it had left though, and Elphie's disorientating kisses had cleared any further doubt.

The next morning, Elphaba had disappeared early to continue her work with Dillamond. The same routine being followed, as per. She had arrived at the lab as the sun was beginning its ascent. Approaching the door, she noticed Grommetick a few steps ahead of her, gears whirring. Increasing her pace, she entered the room at the same moment as the tik-tock thinggy.

"Good morning doctor!" she'd announced. Clearly Grommetick was unaware that he and Dillamond would have company, and had startled, speedily wheeling out of the room with one arm behind its back as Elphie and the Doctor watched with similar frowns. He'd then beckoned her over to the microscope to continue with their investigation.

Galinda had met with Crope and Tibbett during the day, for supposed shopping. She supposed they wanted all of the information on her and Elphie's 'involvement'.

Several hours later, thoroughly exhausted from the antics and interrogation of Crope and Tibbett, she had returned to her room to deposited her purchases before she would go and meet Elphie. Apparently, this needn't be the case, as the door had forcefully banged open as she had finished putting away her new items. She spun around with a surprised glance at the intruder, who just so happened to have quite possibly the largest grin on her face the blonde had ever seen.

"We've done it! Galinda, my love, we have the answers! Dillamonds work has paid off!" She was ecstatic. Galinda could not help but return the smile and let out a laugh. Elphaba had thrown the door shut and clicked the lock before barrelling over and picking Galinda up off the floor.

"Well done you amazing, beautiful, clever thing!" Apparently the joy was shared by and excited Galinda. Elphie had leaned down then and kissed her so passionately, Galinda felt her eyes roll from the feel of it. Tongues met and explored as though it was the first time, though hesitance was no where to be seen. Galinda felt her head spinning, and Elphie wasn't much more coherent than the blonde. They remained that way for what could have been hours. Constantly in need to pull the other closer.

"Oh, Elphie" she panted upon their parting.

"Let me have you" Came the very unexpected response. Galinda may have been shocked, though with Elphie's lips back on hers, the only thing she managed to utter were words so laced with need that Elphie could wait no longer.

"Oh, yes! Elphie, yes"

The events that followed were not anticipated at all, and very much unexpected. The need to share in those feelings that were in the air encouraged the fervid rocking of hips and delighted moans.

Elphaba hadn't intended for it to go any further, but in a haze of thrown clothes and hungry kisses, combined with her passion, the situation had escalated very quickly. Legs tangled as they fell to the bed.

Moans permeated the air as Elphaba had filled Galinda in every possible way. They had become one. Muffled screams and clichéd exclamations of each others name sounded into the air of their room. Elphaba leant down to the blonde writhing below her, she moved their noses together as her hand continued its work. They were breathing the same air now. Galinda had tried to hold eye contact with those intense brown ones, but Elphaba had adjusted slightly and she felt everything, eyes shutting of their own accord as her back lifted from the bed.

She was whole. Time had stopped and the spinning of the world had ceased, for now it was just her and Elphaba. Hot white that had begun in her stomach had shot through every single nerve in her body. It felt although Elphaba had set fire to her very soul. A scream of Elphaba's name had ripped from her throat. She may have panted the name of Lurline a few times, though she wasn't too sure why. She had her own Goddess now.

Elphaba's hand slowed then, and she attempted to remember her name. greyish lips were on hers again, nipping teeth as she re-entered the world of cognitive thoughts.

"Oh my, Elphie." were the first words she managed to string together. Elphaba responded with a very very intense gaze and whispered "I love you"

Galinda basked in that intense stare. She could feel the love from Elphie. She wanted Elphie to feel as she just had. A mutual bond that could not be broken, and set about returning the gesture.

She revelled in every noise and movement that Elphie made as her body twisted in the sheets, from the initial whispered exclamations which built into cries of the blonde's name, over and over, like a mantra. She watched as Elphie's back arched, and as those brown eyes neared blackness as lust and sensation took over. The way her ribs would become so very pronounced when her panting signalled the ever increasing release that she was reaching for.

When Elphaba had reached her crescendo, there had been no exclamation or scream. She had simply heard a whisper of 'Galinda' as her hips raised from the bed one last time and then lay completely still. It was a seemingly simple moment, though it meant so very much for the blonde. The whisper had revealed just how vulnerable Elphie was. Full of adoration and need it was. Galinda could not help but to drag a worshipful finger down the side of Elphie's face as she cleared the mental fog that had surrounded her.

She had pulled the blonde close then, their naked forms sticking together from the sweat that had poured from their excited bodies.

"I love you, Elphaba Thropp" The blonde had uttered. One of her legs had thrown itself protectively over Elphaba's, and an arm lay across her stomach. The blonde's head lay on the crook of Elphie's shoulder, whilst the green girl's free hand twiddled a piece of hair around a finger.

"I love you too, Galinda Arduenna" She had chuckled.

"My, that was wonderful. You should find breakthroughs more often. I Certainly wouldn't mind that again" her breath still had a slight breathless quality to it. Music to Elphaba's ears.

"I shall certainly try, you are really quite addicting. My own personal drug, you are." she'd responded.

"What are you going to do with your findings then?"

"I haven't thought that far, I assume that It'd be the best course of action to present them to someone of power. Perhaps the Wizard should know, someone of such an important position would be capable of using them for the better"

Galinda had looked at her for a short while then, considering. She didn't fancy the idea of going to the emerald city since that horrific meeting with Morrible.

"Hmm, perhaps you could post them to him. Just tell me we shall have forever?"

"Of course we will. You are the best thing I know, and I cannot imagine a future without you. I could never leave you. Also, I don't think it works like that, I shall discuss with Dillamond tomorrow, enough of that though, right now I think I would like to kiss you, my pretty."

They had shared a slow and delightful kiss until Galinda had quickly pulled away.

"Do you think anyone heard?! I was rather loud"

Elphaba had smirked then and pulled her in for another.

"I doubt it, though, I cant help being this skilled"

Both did not realise that Nessa had been sat next door, trying her hardest to continue her conversation with Nanny as the sound of squeaking bedsprings and exclamations played through the wall. Apparently, Nanny had had quite enough and had told Nessa as much.

"I shall have a words with her tomorrow. She's certainly her mother's daughter."

Nessa pulled out her cross and began to pray.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi everyone! So, this is the final chapter. I hope you've enjoyed reading this, and I'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has stuck with me, and those who've reviewed, you're all fabulous! I have a few plans for oneshots coming up, and a three parter, which will be under way as soon as I've sorted the oneshots. Anyway, It has been a fun ride, so without further ado, please enjoy our final chapter together! **

The next morning, Galinda awoke to a new and utterly wonderful sensation; the feeling of bare green skin pressed to her back, and one arm pulling her as close as possible. Memories of the previous night came flooding back. Perhaps she would feel slightly embarrassed for things that she had called out, though she didn't think Elphie minded too much, if anything they had only added to the green girl's ardour. A smile appeared on her face at the memory of Elphie below her, practically worshipping her as she gasped into her shoulder.

She felt the green girl stir slightly behind her then, the arm draped across her pale stomach tightened pulling her closer into the pointy front behind her. She felt a kiss on her shoulder before turning to look at the green girl. Evidently, Elphie was still feeling slightly flustered and buried her face into Galinda's shoulder. She gave a short chuckle and kissed the top of that shiny, gorgeous hair. The stillness of the morning added to her bliss of the moment.

Elphie looked up then, a small, shy smile on her face. A look so unusual for Elphie that she could not help but run a pale hand over her hip, up to her face, where she caressed it lovingly.

"Good morning" she whispered. Brown eyes moved up to make eye contact then, but couldn't seem to break it. She'd fallen under Galinda's spell again, and it seemed that the blonde could not help but become captivated by that intense gaze in return.

"Hello" came the shy response from Elphie. They'd fallen back into that gaze again. Elphaba attempted to break it by leaning in to deliver a searing kiss to pink lips. The blonde was immediately transported to the previous night and let out a delighted moan. She chose that moment to roll on top of Elphie, straddling those still very naked hips. The kiss deepened then, and Galinda dared to rock her hips as Elphie's hands began their exploration of her chest.

Her hand had begun to run a path down Elphie's sternum wit her nails, a sensation that she had discovered was something that Elphie adored. She intended to finish her path in places that reduced the green girl's coherency. She had reached her belly button. A smile appeared on Elphie's face, which was quickly wiped off by the sound of hammering on their door.

Green hands were thrown out, and grabbed the duvet that had fallen to her knees, pulling it over the blonde's bare skin. Galinda fell forwards then, so they were nose to nose. If the door was unlocked, both were rather certain that Nanny (for they were quite certain that only she could create such a noise) would have made a very theatrical fuss over the current position they were in.

The hammering came again, and Nanny's voice came through the door, the majority of it muffled by the thick wood and the blonde's panicked giggling.

"Go on, go and answer it. I should quite like to have a door left by this evening, unless you've developed an exhibitionist streak." Galinda had said with a cheeky raise of her eyebrows. Elphie could not help but sputter at this. It would be a better idea for her to answer. Galinda still sported a pink glow from her very flushed cheeks, which would make their recent actions completely obvious.

With a huff, Elphie rolled out of bed, and began to rummage around for something to cover her naked self. Galinda watched from the bed, duvet up to her chin, and a very appreciative smile on her face for the sight of glorious, naked green skin. Brown eyes met hers then, and a mock glare appeared on her face.

"Pervert" Elphie called. Galinda's mouth fell open as she prepared a retort, which was once again cut off by Nanny hissing at the door. Something about it being midday. She didn't realise it was that late.

"Just use my dressing gown, Elphie". The green girl complied, though it was quite the unusual sight to see Elphie dressed in white. The blonde found that it rather suited her. Gave a delightful glow to her skin.

The green girl unlocked the door then and pulled it open with a huff, Nanny almost projecting herself into their room with the force she was exerting. Her screeching was cut short at the sight of Elphie in a robe that barely came to her knees. She couldn't see much past Elphie's form, though she could see the corner of a very neat, perhaps unused bed. She raised an eyebrow at Elphie.

"What?! You've developed quite the voice this morning" came Elphie's sassy remark.

"Nanny could say the same about you two last night. Get ready, Nessie said Crope had wanted to see you in half an hour" She'd said that so casually that Elphie had to take a moment to understand the words that had been spoken. Her nose scrunched up as she comprehended the words, and her skin turned a shade of pine green. Nanny had turned her back and retreated back to her room then, not allowing Elphie a chance to further embarrass herself.

She slowly pushed the door shut and turned to the blonde who looked rather horrified. It developed into a wheeze, though presumably, it was supposed to be a laugh. She walked back to the bed and perched next to the blonde. She didn't really know what to say. After a short while of thinking, she managed to squeeze a sentence together.

"Well, at least that's one person we don't have to have 'the chat' with". That seemed to snap Galinda out of her panicked state. She gave a slight hum in response. Dainty eyebrows drew down then, and Elphaba felt a pillow come into contact with her head. She huffed as she fell onto the blonde's legs.

"And what warranted that response?!"

"I am not a pervert, Miss Thropp!" Someone was feeling better already. She let out a hearty laugh, perhaps it was relief. Either way, she held out a hand for the blonde who readily accepted it, with one sheet still wrapped around her. Elphie believed she resembled a goddess in a toga. She was quite appreciative.

"Come on then, my lovely not–pervert. We have a meeting in half an hour, with the lovely Crope" She smiled and pecked Elphie then proceeded to collect her clothes from the wardrobe.

Within forty five minutes, they had prepared themselves, and were waiting under their tree for Crope to stage an appearance. Apparently, he was going to be fashionably late. They shouldn't have been surprised when he appeared ten minutes later. Galinda was sitting in Elphie's lap. Propriety could march itself into the woods for all she cared. She still prided herself on being a dainty flower, though now, she was more liberal with her appearance, and so much more accepting.

Crope announced his appearance with a very dramatic bow, and kiss to both of their hands. Elphie was rather unimpressed and began to yank at her arm in an attempt to free it. Evidently, Galinda was feeling observant.

"Where's Tibbett?" She'd asked.

"Ah, that's the reason I've come to speak to you both. It's his birthday tomorrow, I was thinking of taking him to the theatre in the Emerald City come the weekend, though I believe it would be a charming idea for us all to celebrate together. Perhaps a drink at the Peach and Kidneys? Nothing too much, I shall provide that for him this weekend, don't you worry your pretty little heads."

Elphie had stuck her tongue out in distaste, but before a snide comment could be made, Galinda had flapped rather excitedly.

"We'd love to come" Noticing the grimace she was receiving from behind her, she gave a quick poke with her elbow "Wouldn't we, Elphie?" Elphie wheezed how much she would love to go and sit with a herd of drunkards. She simply couldn't wait. Sarcastic beast.

The blonde and Crope had then launched into a very excitable discussion as to what needed to be purchased for this party. According to Galinda, streamers and banners were essential to the outcome of a good gathering. Crope also added that party hats would be very, very necessary. Elphie would have turned up her nose at this, but then realised that she held a special place in her heart for pointed hats, so grumbled her agreement.

After an hour of listening to their planning, (or so she believed, though Galinda noted that Elphie was rather prone to exaggeration) Elphie thought that they were free to do as they pleased. She was rather fixated on the idea of taking the blonde back to their room. She'd been sitting in her lap for the whole conversation, and had then swung around to perch on Elphie's knee half way through; one hand absent mindedly, and unintentionally landing on her thigh, which was becoming quite the distraction.

When she grew bored of the discussion, she had begun to tug on the blonde's ringlets, which quickly bounced back into place. It held her attention until Galinda noticed, and turned to place a quick kiss on green lips. Elphie could not help the smile that appeared. She'd been placated for all of five minutes more before she began to huff into blonde curls.

The blonde was feeling quite generous that day, and so wrapped up her plans with Crope. This was quite the perfect timing, as the boy in question had appeared a short while away the second plans were finalised. Crope saw him, and greeted him with a kiss to his knuckles. Tibbett blushed and pulled him up. They were probably going shopping or something. Elphie nuzzled into Galinda's neck then, protected by a sheath of curls and gave a kiss to her still bruised neck.

"Shall we get going? We have supplies to buy"

Elphie groaned.

"Don't be a terror. Do come with, and I shall make it worth your while" She was right next to Elphie's ear for that last part, and had ghosted a breath across her cheek. Elphie shuddered. Galinda smirked.

The pair stood up then, Elphie lacing their fingers together, and mimicking Tibbett's earlier action of placing a kiss onto her knuckles. Galinda rather appreciated a chivalrous Elphie, it made her feel important. Anything Elphie did made her feel important. The green girl always had a way of making her heart beat faster. She leaned up then, and delivered a kiss to Elphie's lip, half on the cheek. Her height really did not help the situation sometimes.

Shortly after, they had arrived at the student market near the campus. Galinda had not released the green hand. She had pulled Elphie into the first of many shops, though the green girl wasn't being too public about her boredom, she didn't want to risk losing potential activities later that evening.

She was pulled into shop after shop, pretending that the fluorescent party hats Galinda had found were the best things she'd ever seen, as were the streamers, and the candles, and the party poppers. Galinda had picked upon the false mood after Elphie had thrown her hands in the air at the sight of even more paper plates.

"How fantastic they are! We should buy seven each, one for each day of the week!" She had exclaimed.

"Come now, don't be sarcastic. I just need to get a gift then we can leave."

Elphie had never heard more delightful words tumble from the blonde's mouth. Well, she had, last night specifically but best not to talk about those. Might make her come over all unnecessary. They'd entered a clothes shop together, Galinda fully intent on buying a nice shirt for Tibbett.

"What about socks? Everyone likes socks, you cant go wrong with those" Elphie had supplied. Bless her, she was trying, though whether she was trying to help with the gift, or help to speed up the shop was not entirely certain. The blonde rather thought that Tibbett would be slightly unimpressed after ripping away the paper from her beautifully wrapped gift to find a pair of Nanny's knitted socks, complete with holes. Elphie didn't seem to mind the holes, according to her, they provided ventilation and a wonderful breeze. Galinda could not help but laugh at that.

She'd managed to find a Tibbett worthy shirt which she believed he would like. Elphie had grumbled and still stuck by her opinion that socks were the way forward. She was rather excited to be leaving now though, she'd practically skipped out of the store with Galinda attached to her hand. Her joy was short lived as she was dragged in the opposite direction to the way home. She gave a confused look at the blonde, who gave an apologetic smile and rushed off to buy wrapping paper.

She'd reappeared with wrapping paper and some scented candles, a sheepish grin on her face.

"They were on special... I bought one for us too"

Elphie had groaned, then laced their fingers together, taking the bag off the blonde before marching them back to campus. They passed Crope and Tibbett on the way back through, a smile for Tibbett, and a subtle wink at Crope.

No sooner had they returned to their room, Elphaba had the blonde against the door. Those hands were roaming over all the places that delighted Galinda. A short while later, she found herself on her back. Elphie's pillows squashed beneath the engaged pair.

Her legs and arms were wrapped around the green girl, as hips rose and fell. Her face buried into a green neck, name being chanted every few seconds. After the pleasure had subsided, she set about returning the favour to Elphie, who was feeling rather vocal today. If she was within hearing range, Nanny would just have to cope.

Both were very much satiated after their activities, Galinda lay, head on Elphie's stomach, perpendicular to one another. Her legs were hanging over the end of the bed, but she didn't seem to mind too much. Elphie apparently did, and pulled her close, tangling their legs together as they came nose to nose.

The sheets had fallen off the bed in their passion, but they weren't too cold. Elphie recalled that strenuous exercise was usually just the remedy for chilly limbs and pondered a potential round two. She looked down at the blonde preparing to seduce her once again, but her plans were halted by shut eyes and a blissful smile.

A short snooze later, Galinda had stirred and noticed the bags that had been dumped near the door were still looking rather neglected. She removed herself from Elphie's warm arms and pulled out the wrapping paper and set about wrapping the gifts.

Elphie was sat behind her on the bed, both still very much naked, and she used those spindly fingers to massage Galinda's head whilst the gifts disappeared behind gorgeous wrapping. Galinda had a talent for this sort of thing. She found it slightly harder to concentrate with Elphie's fingers in her hair, but she managed to complete the job, though the candle was certainly a challenge.

She popped their new candle on the table between their two beds. Elphie noted that it did smell quite lovely. They got up then, when the heat of their recent activity had vanished, and a slight chill appeared. Both had donned their night shirts as Nanny entered. The woman really ought to knock, or she'd have quite the spectacular surprise soon.

"Have you two managed to remove yourselves from each other to go and see Crope yet?" she wasn't angry, just rather enjoying watching Elphie squirm. She used to do It to a young Elphie, laughing at her after she'd shredded one of her father's robes with those sharp teeth before attempting to hide it under Nanny's bed. Nanny watched her squirm, a knowing look shared as she was interrogated by her father. Still, Nanny was on the side of her little Fabala, and he never found out where it had gone. Frex could be quite short-tempered towards the green girl when she misbehaved.

Elphaba responded with a short yes.

"Good. Nanny and the Amas will be coming too, we shan't have you running rampant through the streets of Shiz." Elphaba had looked at her then, a slight look of disappointment there.

"Would you not prefer a knitting party or something? I hear we have quite the range of activities for you to enjoy from the comfort of your room." Elphaba assumed it was worth a try to discourage the old woman. One thing that both had in common was a fierce stubborn streak, Elphie knew it. Nanny snorted.

"Hush, sassy mouth, Nanny will be there." she left again then.

Elphaba flopped back onto her bed, Galinda opening her arms to cuddle the ungainly thing.

* * *

The next evening, they all found themselves sitting around a large table in the corner of the Peach and Kidneys. The Amas and Nanny had thankfully sat a short way away, close enough to halt any bad behaviour, but far away enough to allow the students their chance to have fun.

The corner they had commandeered had been surrounded by the brightly coloured paper streamers, and each member of the group had their own party hat on. Elphaba was in a slight grump for about two minutes based on the fact that she'd been given a pink party hat. Galinda placated her with sneaky kisses.

Avaric sat with an arm around both Pfannee and Shenshen, whilst Milla wheedled up next to a blushing Boq. Fiyero sat next to Nessarose, who was, in turn sat next to Elphie and Galinda. Crope and Tibbett opposite. Tibbett was rather excited to tear into the gifts surrounding him.

Elphie and Galinda had wrapped themselves around one another, the blonde nestled into the crook of Elphie's arm, which was currently around her shoulders. Tibbett had ploughed through the gifts, excited squeals with each thing unwrapped. He seemed to really enjoy what Crope had bought him, though no one was allowed to see what it was. He leaned in and kissed the boy next to him, who had a conspirational smirk on his face. Galinda rather thought that she didn't want to know what it was.

After the wrapping paper had been launched into the air, drinks were ordered for the group. Elphie had only intended to drink wine, though clearly Avaric had other intentions and had appeared with brandy for the group, alongside their drinks of wine and beer.

"Old Tibbett deserves a good night" he'd replied to their confused faces. He'd then raised a glass to the newly appointed twenty year old, which the group joined in with. They all downed the tot of brandy immediately after, which resulted in much hacking and coughing from Nessa. Best remedy that with a good swig of wine, take the taste away.

The group then entered a drinking game of sorts. Playing cards had appeared and drinks were knocked back. Even Elphie, who could usually pride herself on managing her alcohol was starting to feel rather fuzzy. Boq, who could not hold his alcohol at all had suggested a game of truth or dare.

Despite being slightly inebriated, the dares began as quite reserved ones. Well, reserved as far as Crope and Tibbett were concerned. Things such as stealing glasses off tables, or flirting with very old men who were quite horrified with Fiyero's attempts at small talk. Elphaba could not help but snort when the poor, tattooed boy was hit over the head with an umbrella.

"Sorry Fiyero, but if you attempted to make a pass at me like that, I think my reaction would be just the same"

He scowled in response to Elphie's remark and made an excuse of being a ladies man, not an old man's man.

The dares became more adventurous then, Crope successfully swiping a bottle of champaign from a nearby table and several air fresheners from the toilet. He lined them up proudly in the centre of the table. Avaric was then dared to lick saffron cream that had appeared from Boq's forehead, which resulted in much giggling from the sauced Muchkin.

It then fell to Avaric to dare Elphie, who was feeling rather cheerful from the alcohol. He thought for a few minutes before daring her to kiss Galinda. Fiyero laughed, Avaric was the only one of the group who did not know of their romantic involvement. Pfannee and Shenshen glared at him, clearly wanting his attention.

Elphie shrugged at the dare and turned to Galinda. Both clearly wanted to make a show of this. Galinda had all but leaped into Elphie's lap and delivered a very long, very passionate kiss. The group chortled and Avaric looked confused.

"Am I missing something?" he'd asked

"Oh, I'd say quite a lot, actually" came Galinda's slightly out of breath response. The group laughed then. She did not move from Elphie's lap. Crope was dared to perform a very expressive dance on the still empty dance floor. He did as asked, though it couldn't really be considered a dare, goodness knows after one more pint he would be throwing himself around anyway. The blonde laughed heartily. During the fit of laughter, she had noticed that Elphie was not laughing.

She looked around then, curious as to Elphie's quiet demeanour. She took Elphie's hand and dragged her outside, behind the pub. On their way out, they had passed through the majority of the patrons of the pub. Elphie didn't count one Animal. The fresh air of the night had hit upon stepping outside, sobering both up, rather than the smoky atmosphere of the pub.

"What's wrong?" Galinda had asked. Elphie's eyes had gone dark, and rather beady looking. Her mood had shifted quite quickly, a drawn down eyebrow signalling this change.

"Nothing" came the quiet response. Truly, something was the matter. She believed that her mind had gotten over the ordeal from Morrible's office, though clearly this was not the case. The carefree way the blonde was laughing had reminded her how much she loved the little thing, but that thought had brought with it the premonition of the her standing in front of that odd skeleton, essentially shooting down Elphaba's love in flames.

Ideas were flitting through her head now. The alcohol had introduced a boldness. The visit to the wizard would have to performed soon, Dillamond's results could not wait, and neither could her cause. She'd seen first hand the way Morrible spoke of Doctor Dillamond, and the decreasing number of animals in society. Her head was hurting.

Galinda had cupped her face then, looking into those dark eyes, they looked rather glassy, perhaps the threat of tears were hovering close by, something was very wrong. She was thoroughly concerned.

"Love, tell me what's wrong?" Elphie had looked at her then, pushing forwards and kissing her with all of her might. It didn't last as Fiyero had appeared in the doorway, a smirk on his face at the sight of green hands squeezing the blonde's hair.

"Hey, love birds! Control yourselves! Come inside in a minute, you shan't want to miss this" They'd looked up as Fiyero had vanished through the door. Galinda had looked at her companion who was staring forwards. There was a track down the side of her face where a tear had escaped. She didn't remove it, just allowed it to continue its searing path. Galinda jumped forwards and wiped it away.

Something was upsetting her, though Elphie wouldn't open up. She took her hand and lead her inside. Both were greeted by the sight of Ama Clutch on a table, Ama Vimp stood next to her as they danced. Elphie's mask had gone back on. She glanced down at the blonde.

"I thought that perhaps alcohol tolerance built with age, though apparently not" she was back to her sarcastic self, though Galinda could see it. Behind those intense eyes, where the gears of her mind whirred, something was amiss.

She watched as Fiyero stood, and with the help of the others, attempted to steer the Amas out of the pub and into the carriage, before something was broken. Preferably not bones.

Upon settling in their seats, the majority of the elder party members immediately fell asleep. Safely buckled up, the students hatched a plan to flee to the Philosophy club, Tibbett had always wanted to visit. It was agreed then. The birthday boy could not be denied.

The carriage delivered the students to Crage hall, where Nessa, Nanny and the Amas were all deposited. Elphie had jumped out then and held out a hand for Galinda, who looked at it.

"Elphie, what are you doing? Aren't We going to the Philosophy club?" she'd asked. Elphie still looked stoic, those sad eyes looked into her own. She seemed torn.

"We're going to the Emerald city. I need to get those findings to the Wizard, Galinda. This can't go on." Galinda's mouth had dropped open then. She had a good idea as to how that trip would end. Morrible's office had confirmed it, and the twisting of her stomach and beating of her heart were very much telling her no.

"Elphie, no! Please, we can't, we just cant go there." the rest of the group were eagerly watching from the carriage, slight confusion as to why the response was so dramatic. Elphie could not look into those blue eyes.

"I shall go alone then!" She'd hissed. She was getting quite vexed now, which was unusual in itself. The blonde hadn't heard such a tone from Elphie since their first year together. She'd looked around to notice that they had a rather captivated audience and hopped down from the carriage.

"Two moments please" She pulled Elphie away then, for more privacy. "This can wait Elphie, like we planned. Please. Remember how we planned together?!" She was really quite desperate now, excuses tumbling forwards, tears threatening to spill.

Elphaba had stalked away then, back in front of the carriage. Galinda had followed.

Elphie looked at her, eyes and voice steady. "I know why you don't want to do this, and I feel the same way, but it's something that must be done, for the greater good"

"Why don't you want to go, Elphaba?! Is it because I'm left here, dragging you back? Because if so I apologise. I apologise profusely that my love is getting in the way of your dreams" her voice had gone up several octaves then, cracking half way through. She was almost shouting.

She was angry and sad and feeling too many emotions to even attempt to separate them. Their audience was truly paying full attention now. Elphaba had turned slowly back around to be facing the blonde. She reached out to her. Galinda watched as Elphie's carefully constructed mask of stoicism was ripped away.

"Its nothing to do with that and you know it! You're going to be torn away from me no matter what happens, delivered into the arms of a man who can give you what you deserve, because you deserve so, so much, and I can't stand myself for wanting to keep you! You'll be ripped away and married and I'll be hated. And I love you too much to pull you down with me" She'd started off in a passionate shout, which had grown quieter by the second sentence, finishing on a defeated whisper.

Galinda's heart had skipped a few beats during that. She choked back a sob at Elphie's drooped shoulders. She'd never seen the girl look so defeated, not even in her first year when everyone had condemned her. She moved forwards and took a clenched green hand, peeling the fingers open, and running her fingers over a green palm.

"Oh Elphie. Beautiful Elphie. If you stick around there won't be a husband, you know that. I could never leave you, never. Don't you know that I love you too much for that? I fear that I am not worthy to have you as my girlfriend. My one and only. You're going to change the world Elphie, I know that. Just wait. I don't want you going on this hair-brained trip, there's no plan, no logic, Elphaba, can't you see?! I've a feeling that you saw what I saw, and that will not be happening. Not if you stick by me. Come on, get in this carriage with me, tell me you love me? Make me feel your love."

Brown eyes looked into blue then, and she rushed forwards, pouring everything she knew into the kiss that they shared. Her hands were on Galinda's back, pulling her so, so close. The blonde was certain that she may have stopped breathing, but still pulled Elphie closer in return. Elphie's head buried into the blonde's hair, and couldn't seem to pull away. Not even when they climbed into the carriage.

She felt full, the sense of foreboding replaced with a love so strong, so fierce that she felt it may consume her. So let it.

The group watched the passionate pair, smiles on their faces. They had little clue as to what had just happened, though it must have been quite terrible to have caused such shouting.

Elphie looked down then at the blonde. "So, we're girlfriends?"

Galinda had blushed then and gone all quiet. Elphie smiled at her. She didn't need a mask any more.

She looked down at the smaller girl again

"You'd really help me in the future?"

Galinda looked at her then. "Of course, you silly, impulsive thing. Not until were settled though. We'd have a house or apartment, you'd be working in science, still alongside Dillamond, in that gorgeous lab coat-" Elphie chuckled at that "- and I'd be hopefully doing something with architecture. Oh, and we'd have a dog I suppose. Or a cat"

Elphie pushed their noses together then.

"My Oz, I am so in love with you" and kissed her to breathlessness just to prove it. The circle looked away to allow them some privacy.

* * *

That night as she lay writhing beneath the blonde after returning from the philosophy club, dreams of separation and tragedy could not have been further away. She felt as though their love had thrown Morrible's plan into the gutter. For now, it could all wait. Galinda had moved to become her cause. She still had no doubt that Dillamond would join her ploy in later life.

The feelings of anxiety that the thoughts of the Emerald City provoked had evaporated, and when she'd screamed Galinda's name, she knew she'd made the correct choice. It'd taken much careful consideration, though now their relationship would go on to rewrite the story that Morrible and the Wizard had mapped out for them. There would be no parting of ways, for they had each other, hearts so very full of love, and that was enough.


End file.
